Egri v. Connecticut Yankee Atonic Power Co

• Decision Date: 20 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. 3:02CV400 (AHN).,3:02CV400 (AHN).
• Parties: Andrew J. EGRI, Edward Munster and Neighbors Opposed to Residential Atomic Dumps v. CONNECTICUT YANKEE ATOMIC POWER COMPANY, Town of Haddam Board of Selectmen and Alan Paskewich, In His Capacity as Town of Haddam Building Official
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

270 F.Supp.2d 285

Andrew J. EGRI, Edward Munster and Neighbors Opposed to Residential Atomic Dumps v. CONNECTICUT YANKEE ATOMIC POWER COMPANY, Town of Haddam Board of Selectmen and Alan Paskewich, In His Capacity as Town of Haddam Building Official

No. 3:02CV400 (AHN).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

June 20, 2002.

Nancy Burton, Redding Ridge, CT, for Plaintiff.

Joseph L. Hammer, Allan B. Taylor, John B. Nolan, Michael P. Shea, Alexander G. Filotto, Day, Berry & Howard, Hartford, CT, for Defendant.

Ruling on Motion for Summary Judgment

NEVAS, District Judge.

Currently pending before the court is the motion of Defendant Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company for summary judgment.¹ For the following reasons, Defendant's motion for summary judgment [doc # 22] is GRANTED.

Factual and Procedural History

The current action evolved out of a related action, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company v. Town of Haddam, et al., 3:01cv2178(AHN) (the "Related Action"), brought by defendant Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company ("Connecticut Yankee") against the Town of Haddam, the Town of Haddam Board of Selectmen (the "Selectmen"), Cynthia Williams, in her capacity as the Town of Haddam Zoning Enforcement Officer, and Alan Paskewich, in his capacity as the Town of Haddam Building Official. In the Related Action, Connecticut Yankee sought to further its plan to transfer spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste to a dry cask independent spent fuel storage installation (the "ISFSI") to be constructed at a site located on Connecticut Yankee's 500 acre federally-licensed property in Haddam, Connecticut (the "Property"). The waste is currently stored in a wet pool system located adjacent to the reactor building on the Property.

The parties to the Related Action participated in settlement negotiations with the assistance and supervision of United States Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimmons and reached a tentative settlement agreement in mid-January, 2002 (the "Agreement"). Prior to voting on whether to accept the Agreement, the Selectmen noticed and held a public meeting at a local high school on January 22, 2002. Many Haddam residents, including Plaintiffs Egri and Munster, attended the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to present the Agreement to the public and give the public an opportunity to ask questions and offer comments on the Agreement. The Selectmen noticed and held a second public meeting the following day, January 23, 2002. After receiving additional public comment, the Selectmen voted to approve the Agreement. The parties then executed and filed with the Court a proposed Order on Consent of Parties (the "Order"), setting forth the terms of the settlement. The Court entered the Order on January 29, 2002.

According to the Order, Connecticut Yankee can proceed with the construction, implementation and operation of the ISFSI on the site selected by Connecticut Yankee and Haddam must issue a building permit for the facility and related improvements. Haddam issued the permit on January 29, 2002. The Order also requires Connecticut Yankee to make certain payments to Haddam. Connecticut Yankee has begun making these payments.²

In addition, the Order directs that (1) "Defendants consent to the entry by this Court of a permanent injunction enjoining Defendants, and all other persons acting in concert with them or pursuant to their direction, from acting in any way to prevent, impede, interfere with or delay Connecticut Yankee's construction, implementation or operation of the ISFSI, and such injunction is hereby ordered" (Order ¶ 3); and (2) "[t]his Court will retain jurisdiction to adjudicate all disputes of any nature arising from the interpretation or enforcement of the Order entered herein, and no such dispute may be raised or adjudicated in any other forum except by written agreement of all of the parties." (Order ¶ 8).

On February 27, 2002, just prior to the Order becoming final and non-appealable, Mr. Egri moved to intervene in the Related Action and also sought a revocation of the building permit by directing an appeal to the Haddam Building Board of Appeals. Although his motion for intervention had not been acted upon, Mr. Egri filed on February 28, 2002 a Motion for Reconsideration and to Vacate Order and for Stay of Order. He also filed a Notice of Appeal of the Order.³ On that same day, Mr. Egri's counsel filed a Motion to Intervene on behalf of a number of other parties.

Mr. Egri, along with Plaintiffs Edward Munster and Neighbors Opposed to Residential Atomic Dumps ("NORAD"), filed this current action (the "Current Action"), along with applications for a temporary injunction and order to show cause, in the Connecticut Superior Court for the Judicial District of Middlesex seeking to vacate and nullify the building permit issued pursuant to the Order; enjoin Connecticut Yankee from constructing the ISFSI in a residential zone; declare null and void the Agreement entered into by the parties in the Related Action and enjoin any conduct pursuant to the Agreement; and enjoin Connecticut Yankee from constructing an ISFSI without first obtaining a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need from the Connecticut Siting Council. The complaint alleged that: 1) the building permit was issued in violation of state law and Haddam's zoning regulations; 2) Haddam lacked authority to enter into the Agreement because it required issuance of the building permit in violation of state and local zoning laws; 3) Haddam lacked authority to enter into the Agreement embodied in the Order because the "Town purported to bind" all town residents to the terms of the Order and the Order violates the residents' First Amendment rights; 4) Haddam lacked authority to settle the Related Action on the ground that it was "brought in bad faith and lacked probable cause"; and 5) Connecticut Yankee may not construct the ISFSI as contemplated by the Order on the ground that it has not obtained a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need from the Connecticut Siting Council as state law requires. Plaintiffs subsequently amended their complaint, withdrawing the First Amendment claim and the need for the Connecticut Siting Council certificate.

Plaintiffs allege that they have standing to bring this action because they are "aggrieved by the issuance of the building permit." (Plaintiffs' Complaint, dated March 15, 2002, ¶ 21) Specifically, Plaintiffs claim that they own property abutting or near Connecticut Yankee's property and that their property is subject to devaluation and nuisance conditions created by the construction activities associated with the ISFSI. NORAD claims to represent members whose property adjoins or is near the Connecticut Yankee property.

On March 5, 2002, Connecticut Yankee removed the Current Action to this Court pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and the general removal statute 28. U.S.C. § 1441. Connecticut Yankee contemporaneously filed Motions for a Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO") and an Order to Show Cause. Following a hearing held the same day, the Court entered the TRO and signed the Order to Show Cause, which required the Plaintiffs to appear on March 15, 2002 to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be entered against the plaintiffs pursuant to the All Writs Act.⁴ Connecticut Yankee subsequently filed Motions for Preliminary and Permanent Injunctions against the Plaintiffs.

The Court took up the previously described matters in a hearing on March 15, 2002, along with Plaintiffs' motion to remand and several motions for protective orders and to quash various subpoenas. At that time the Court denied the motion to remand and the motions to quash subpoenas and for protective orders.⁵ The Court also entered an order granting a Permanent Injunction enjoining certain activities of the "Plaintiffs, their successors, assigns, agents and attorneys, and all persons with notice of the permanent injunction."⁶ Order Granting Permanent Injunction, Egri v. Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co., et. al, 3:02CV400(AHN), dated March 15, 2002.

DISCUSSION

I. The Court's Jurisdiction

As a threshold matter, the Court will address the issue raised by Plaintiffs of whether it has subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the Current Action. Plaintiffs challenge the jurisdiction of the Court arguing that the All Writs Act cannot create jurisdiction where none previously existed. Plaintiffs are wrong in their understanding of both the All Writs Act and the underlying jurisdictional basis of this action. The All Writs Act gives this Court the authority to remove an action from state court in order to protect the integrity of its Order. See 28 U.S.C. § 1651 ("The Supreme Court and all courts established by Act of Congress may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law."); Yonkers Racing Corp. v. City of Yonkers, 858 F.2d 855, 865 (2d. Cir.1988); Lucas v. Planning Bd., 7 F.Supp.2d 310, 318 (S.D.N.Y.1998). Furthermore, jurisdiction would lie in this Court based on the claims alleged in the complaint. Those claims arise under federal law because each requires interpretation of and/or launches a challenge against the Agreement contained in the Order, which constitutes a "law of the United States" for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

II. Summary Judgment

In a motion for summary judgment, the moving party bears the burden of establishing that there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Fed.R.Civ.P.; Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (plaintiff must present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported summary judgment motion).

Summary judgment is appropriate when the nonmoving party fails to make a...