Opinion ID: 2327368
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Materials Submitted in Support of Employers' Motion for Summary Judgment

Text: Employers submitted various documents to the court in support of its motion for summary judgment. Those documents included: (1) the Destremps' complaint in the underlying civil action; (2) the Destremps' answers to Viking Stone's interrogatories in the underlying civil action; (3) the Destremps' memorandum in support of their motion for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction against Viking Stone in the underlying civil action; (4) the affidavit of Ronald Destremps which was submitted in support of the just-mentioned motion for injunctive relief; and (5) the deposition testimony of Frank Mello taken in the underlying civil action. 1. The Destremps' Answers to Interrogatories The Destremps' answers to Viking Stone's interrogatories in the underlying civil action included the following two notable exchanges: 6. Please describe in detail the first occasion when the plaintiffs allege that Defendant Viking Stone Corporation caused water to cross over and under Fish Road and onto the plaintiffs' property, whether or not a complaint was made at the time, including the year, month and date, if possible.  ANSWER: Sometime in either 2002 or 2003 I found my basement filled with more than two feet of water and I had to pump it with a sump pump. Our sump pumps only activate when the depression across the street is full. 7. Please describe in detail each and every occasion in which the plaintiffs allege the Defendant Viking Stone caused water to cross over and under Fish Road and onto the plaintiffs' property, whether or not a complaint was made at the time, including the year, month and [d]ate, if possible.  ANSWER: On numerous occasion[s] over the past five years. (Emphasis added.) 2. The Destremps' Memorandum of Law and the Affidavit of Ronald Destremps The Destremps' memorandum of law that was submitted in support of their motion for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction in the underlying civil action contained the following statement: Since 2002, the quarry has been operated by defendant [Viking Stone]. Ever since Viking Stone has operated the quarry Mr. and Mrs. Destremps have suffered the continual discharge of silty water from the quarry. (Emphasis added.) The memorandum asserted that the discharge of water onto the Destremps' property occurs for the most part as a result of the deliberate actions of Viking Stone   . The memorandum contended that Viking Stone has no right to allow or cause the water that collects on its property from its quarry to leech into the property of the plaintiffs, and it further asserted that the discharge is no act of nature    [but] is a direct result of Viking Stone's deliberate act of directing its quarry water down the hill and under and over Fish Road onto the plaintiffs' property. In support of their motion for injunctive relief, the Destremps had also submitted the affidavit of Ronald Destremps dated May 22, 2008, which stated that the property located across the street from his residence had been operated as a quarry for as long as we have lived at our Fish Road home, under different owners. In his affidavit, Mr. Destremps further stated as follows: Prior to 2002 we never had a problem with water coming onto our property. However, since Viking Stone took over in 2002 we have experienced continual flooding of our property from its quarry operation. (Emphasis added.) In his affidavit, Mr. Destremps averred that he and his wife have observed many times exactly how the silty water enters our property. (Emphasis added.) He stated that [t]he quarry operation takes place on a steep hill on Viking Stone's property, and he stated that [t]here are large ponds or pools of water up there with an earthen dam around one or more of the ponds at the top of the hill. He then stated that there was a large depression at the bottom of the hill on Viking Stone's property adjacent to Fish Road. Mr. Destremps then averred as follows in his affidavit: During the course of a dry day my wife and I have observed on several occasions a Viking Stone backhoe opening the earthen dam around one of the ponds at the top of the hill to cause water to run down the hill into the dry depression below, filling it to 5 to 6 feet in some places.    The water is loaded with silt.    [O]n May 11 and 12, 2008 my wife and I observed and photographed an employee of Viking Stone opening one of the earthen dams to allow water [to] run down the hill to the depression below.    The water from the depression on Viking [S]tone's property continually leeches into our property through the rocky soil underneath (and sometimes over) Fish Road. My wife and I have observed this condition since 2002.    We have had to install two sump pumps in the basement of our home. They run constantly whenever the water which Viking Stone empties into the depression at the bottom of the hill rises above the water table. (Emphasis added.) 3. The Deposition Testimony of Frank Mello Finally, in further support of its motion for summary judgment, Employers submitted to the court the deposition testimony of Frank Mello that had been taken on July 9, 2008 in the underlying civil action. In that deposition, Mr. Mello acknowledged that part of the quarry property was located adjacent to Fish Road, but he asserted that that property was not owned by Viking Stone. He also acknowledged that water collected on land adjacent to Fish Road on the side of Fish Road where he operated his quarry. However, he stated that the land where the water collected was [E]ast of the parcel that he and his wife owned, and he averred that that land was owned by the Town of Tiverton. When asked how he knew that the land where the water collected was owned by the Town of Tiverton and not by Viking Stone, Mr. Mello stated, We have an engineer who checked it out. He also confirmed that that land was not used in [any way] in the quarrying operation. In his deposition, Mr. Mello denied that there were any ponds or depressions where water collects up on the top of the hill, where his quarrying operations took place. Mr. Mello stated that, instead, water collected on the floor of the quarry. He acknowledged that water had gone down the hill where the quarry operated and onto the land that he averred was owned by the Town of Tiverton, but he stated that that flow of water occurred naturally. In response to a question with respect to what steps, if any, he planned to take to prevent water from leaching under Fish Road, Mr. Mello stated: I don't believe it's ever leached under Fish Road. As a basis for that statement, he averred that [t]he material that abuts the road is impervious due to its clay content. When asked whether he had ever observed water flowing onto the Destremps' property, Mr. Mello stated: I have observed stagnant water, not flowing. When further asked whether he had noticed that the water was silty, Mr. Mello responded: It looked clear. Mr. Mello did acknowledge that a berm had been installed on top of the hill where the Viking Stone quarry operated and that it was installed [t]o control the water; however, when asked whether either he or anyone else associated with Viking Stone had in the past two years made an opening in the berm to allow water out, he averred that he was positive that they had not. Mr. Mello was then asked the following question: [I]f I were to suggest to you that a backhoe has been observed within the last couple of months on more than one occasion making an opening in that earth and berm, [would you] tell me that that's not true? To that question, Mr. Mello responded: You're dam[n] right I would. D