Doyle v. Town of Litchfield

• Citation: 372 F.Supp.2d 288
• Decision Date: 31 May 2005
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 3:02CV656JCH.,CIV.A. 3:02CV656JCH.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Timothy P. DOYLE, Plaintiff v. TOWN OF LITCHFIELD, et al., Defendants

Page 288

372 F.Supp.2d 288

Timothy P. DOYLE, Plaintiff v. TOWN OF LITCHFIELD, et al., Defendants

No. CIV.A. 3:02CV656JCH.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

May 31, 2005.

Maciej A. Piatkowski, Whitman, Breed, Abbott & Morgan, Greenwich, CT, for Plaintiff.

George A. Dagon, Jr., Murtha Cullina LLP, Elizabeth C. Barton, Alexander G. Filotto, Day, Berry & Howard, Hartford, CT, Jennifer Morgan Delmonico, Theresa M. Parietti, Murtha Cullina LLP, New Haven, CT, for Defendants.

RULING RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DKT. NO. 59]

HALL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Timothy Doyle ("Doyle") brings this suit against the Town of Litchfield ("Litchfield"), asserting various theories of recovery. Each of the claims involves land that Doyle previously owned, situated approximately one-quarter mile from Litchfield's landfill. The case has a lengthy history. Currently, Doyle alleges that he is entitled to relief under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act ("RCRA"), Connecticut General Statute § 22a-452, Strict Liability, and Negligence per se.

Litchfield has moved for Summary Judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. For the reasons to follow, Litchfield's motion is DENIED as to the CERCLA claim and GRANTED as to the remaining claims.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts¹

In March 1996, Doyle's then-fiancé, Lisa DiJon, bought a parcel of property ("Property") at 521 South Plains Road, Litchfield, approximately a quarter-mile northwest of Litchfield's former municipal landfill. The Property was 3.58 acres of gently sloping land with a small pond and a colonial-style farmhouse. Doyle and his fiancé planned to run a horse breeding operation on the Property. Doyle became concerned when he noticed dead fish and pollywogs floating in the pond, and an orange sheen on the surface of the water. He tested the water, engaged an environmental testing company, and talked to neighbors and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP"). From the DEP, he learned that landfill leachate had been the subject of previous litigation and DEP orders. He contacted local authorities and the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") regarding conditions in the landfill and surrounding property.

Also in connection with the Property, Doyle obtained zoning and conservation permits from the Town of Litchfield. He removed trees, cleared land, and installed a riding ring and horse barn. He also procured further environmental testing, blasted and excavated the land, moved dirt, capped a well, and installed new drain pipes for the pond. In August 1996, he and Lisa DiJon married and moved onto the Property. They continued working toward their planned horse operation.

The Town's landfill, used for solid waste disposal for fifty years, accepted residential, commercial, and industrial waste. Currently, it is a waste recycling facility and is located between two bedrock ridges in a steep valley. The water table in the center of the landfill is over twenty feet higher than its base. The use of this site, combined with its hydrogeology, allowed leachate to flow from the landfill into the underlying bedrock system, and then into local ground and surface water systems.

In 1982, the DEP issued a pollution abatement order against Litchfield for the landfill, and Litchfield conducted a hydrogeological study. According to the study, there was leachate in the bedrock adjacent to the landfill and in nearby surface waters. Further, two primary migratory pathways for leachate were found to the north and south of the landfill, along a fracture in the bedrock. Leachate also flowed to the northwest.

In 1984, Litchfield submitted a map to the DEP and developed and implemented a landfill closure plan. It installed monitoring wells, began monitoring water quality, and extended water lines to some surrounding properties. It has continued to collect and analyze samples from those wells. As part of the closure plan, Litchfield placed a covering material on the landfill to reduce the amount of rain and surface water entering the landfill. The covering was a mixture of soil and ash derived from incinerated sludge. Around 1991, and with the DEP's and Litchfield's permission, Crompton Corporation² disposed of about 10,000 cubic yards of incinerated sludge ash at the Litchfield landfill. The ash was from Naugatuck Treatment Company and was used as part of the covering. Because the landfill is in a wetland area in a bedrock valley partially above the water table, its base remains saturated despite the covering.

In February 1998, after the below-described state court litigation had begun, Lisa DiJon conveyed an interest in the Property to Doyle. Doyle subsequently lost the property in unrelated foreclosure proceedings, before the state litigation reached trial. He has lived in Woodbury since "some time" before he filed the present action in April 2002.

B. Procedural History

In 1997, Doyle and his then-wife sued Litchfield on various grounds in the Connecticut Superior Court. They alleged that their property was contaminated by leachate from Litchfield's landfill and asserted various common law and state statutory claims. They amended their complaint several times. The parties to that suit agreed that the court would decide the factual issues first. After visiting the site twice and evaluating the testimony of two expert witnesses, one for each side, the state court found: 1) plaintiffs did not sustain their burden of establishing that their property was contaminated (contamination); and 2) plaintiffs did not sustain their burden of establishing that the Town's landfill was the source of any contamination on their property (connection to source). Doyle v. Webster, No. CV990079961, 2001 WL 58018, at *16 (Conn.Super.Ct. Jan.8, 2001). The court therefore found for the defendant Town on all counts. Id. The plaintiffs' attempts pro se for rehearing and appeal were denied.

In April 2002, Doyle filed the instant lawsuit pro se. He amended his complaint in May 2002, adding Crompton as a defendant. The court granted Crompton's motion to dismiss for failure to state a viable claim, absent opposition. (Dkt. No. 19.) The court also granted Doyle's application for pro bono counsel. (Dkt. No. 22.) Doyle then filed a motion to amend his complaint and add defendants Uniroyal Chemical and Naugatuck Treatment; Judge Goettel conducted a hearing and denied that motion. (Dkt. No. 34.) When Doyle's motion for reconsideration was denied (Dkt. No. 37), he appealed to the Second Circuit (Dkt. No. 39). Before the motion was heard, Doyle withdrew his appeal by stipulation that the appeal was premature because some claims were still pending against Litchfield in the district court. (Dkt. No. 50.)

In September 2004, Doyle filed his Second Amended Complaint against Litchfield alleging CERCLA, RCRA, and Connecticut statutory violations, strict liability, and negligence per se. Pre-discovery, Litchfield moved for summary judgment. Litchfield contends that Doyle's claims are barred by preclusion and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine; that Doyle does not have standing to pursue his claims; that he failed to follow statutory RCRA requirements for suit; and, that he failed to state a strict liability claim. In response, Doyle contends that the federal actions involve issues that were not decided by the state court and are not barred; that he has sufficient standing for his claims and adequately followed RCRA's notice requirements; that his state claims deserve reconsideration; and that Litchfield's understanding of a strict liability claim is faulty. He lists twelve disputed issues of material fact, several of which involve disputed issues of law.

II. STANDARD

The burden is on a party moving for summary judgment to establish that there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); White v. ABCO Eng'g Corp., 221 F.3d 293, 300 (2d Cir.2000). When a motion for summary judgment is supported by documentary evidence and sworn affidavits, the nonmoving party must present significant probative evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact. See Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A court must grant summary judgment "`if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact....'" Miner v. City of Glens Falls, 999 F.2d 655, 661 (2d Cir.1993) (citation omitted). A dispute regarding a material fact is genuine "`if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.'" Aldrich v. Randolph Cent. Sch. Dist., 963 F.2d 520, 523 (2d Cir.1992) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505).

The court resolves "all ambiguities and draw[s] all inferences in favor of the nonmoving party in order to determine how a reasonable jury would decide." Aldrich, 963 F.2d at 523. Thus, "[o]nly when reasonable minds could not differ as to the import of the evidence is summary judgment proper." Bryant v. Maffucci, 923 F.2d 979, 982 (2d Cir.1991); see also Suburban Propane v. Proctor Gas, Inc., 953 F.2d 780, 788 (2d Cir.1992). A party may not create a genuine issue of material fact by relying on the "`mere allegations or denials'" contained in his pleadings. See Goenaga v. March of Dimes Birth Defects Found., 51 F.3d 14, 18 (2d Cir.1995) (citation omitted); see also Ying Jing Gan v. City of New York, 996 F.2d 522, 532-33 (2d Cir.1993). Further, a party may not rely "on mere speculation or conjecture as to the true nature of the facts to overcome a motion for summary judgment." Knight v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 804 F.2d 9, 12 (2d Cir.1986).

The Local Rules of ...