Opinion ID: 183689
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Commonwealth Legal Proceedings

Text: In August 2003, Chico filed in a commonwealth court the first of three lawsuits relating to the filling station. Primarily a contract action, the suit sought declaratory relief and damages related to Shell's alleged breach of its site improvement obligations under a lease agreement with Chico. Among the remedies requested in the action, however, was an injunction requiring Shell to conduct an environmental site assessment, carry out any necessary remediation, and reimburse Chico for costs attributable to environmental degradation at the site. After Shell moved to dismiss, the parties settled and stipulated to dismissal of the portion of the suit requesting injunctive relief related to the environmental condition of the site. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Chico agreed to allow Shell access to the filling station to remove the USTs and conduct sampling activities. Chico amended the complaint in May 2005 to allege the discovery of contamination during removal of the USTs at the filling station, and to request damages for environmental harm and operational losses stemming from the contamination. In 2010, recognizing that the question of the environmental condition of the filling station was before the EQB, the commonwealth court stayed the action pending final EQB action. The stay was subsequently upheld on interlocutory appeal to a commonwealth appeals court. Chico filed its second action, a mandamus petition directed to the EQB, in a commonwealth court in October 2008. The petition sought an order directing the EQB to require testing for lead at the filling station, in light of evidence that Shell had sold leaded gasoline on the premises up until the 1980s. [7] Chico and the EQB quickly reached a settlement in January 2009, under which the EQB agreed to hear Chico's evidence of lead contamination, conduct the necessary administrative hearings, and issue the final resolution in the case within sixty days. [8] In turn, Chico agreed to have its concerns heard by the EQB rather than the commonwealth courts. Pursuant to the parties' agreement, the mandamus petition was dismissed as moot.