Gollobin v. Air Distributing Co., Inc., Civ. A. No. 93-1188.

• Decision Date: 08 December 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 93-1188.
• Citation: 838 F. Supp. 255
• Parties: Leonard P. GOLLOBIN and Charlotte Gollobin, Plaintiffs, v. AIR DISTRIBUTING CO., INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

838 F. Supp. 255

Leonard P. GOLLOBIN and Charlotte Gollobin, Plaintiffs, v. AIR DISTRIBUTING CO., INC., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 93-1188.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division.

December 8, 1993.

Robert Tayloe Ross, James A. Kline, IV, Cherry, Abady, Seymour & Ross, Richmond, VA, for plaintiffs.

William J. Virgulak, Jr., Doherty, Sheridan & Grimaldi, Fairfax, VA, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

I.

This diversity suit alleges breach of contract, negligence, strict liability, and statutory causes of action growing out of the accidental spillage of heating oil into the basement of plaintiffs' farm home. The novel question presented by defendant's dismissal motion is whether Virginia Code § 62.1-44.34:14, et seq., as amended in 1990, extends strict liability to the discharge of oil onto private lands.¹ An examination of the statute reveals that this broad interpretation is warranted and that the liability imposed by Virginia Code § 62.1-44.34:14 et seq. extends to oil discharges occurring on all lands located within the Commonwealth of Virginia.

II.

In the spring of 1991, the Gollobins, owners of a farm located in Loudoun County, Virginia, contracted with defendant Air Distributing Co., Inc. ("ADCO") for the performance of mechanical work at the farm's residence. One aspect of this agreement required ADCO to install, and ensure the proper operation of, a new oil burning furnace for the residence. In the course of installing the furnace, ADCO disconnected the old furnace from the oil supply lines that delivered oil to the furnace from the oil tank. These lines were neither sealed off nor reconnected to the new furnace.

In late summer 1991, a heating oil supplier, unbeknownst to ADCO, delivered a substantial quantity of fuel oil to the external oil tank located at the farm. Because the oil supply lines from the tank had not been connected to the new furnace or sealed off, approximately 450-600 gallons of this oil spilled directly onto the floor of the basement of the residence. The Gollobins contend that the spill occurred because ADCO had negligently failed to cap, seal, or otherwise close the oil supply lines which had been disconnected or severed in the course of installing the new furnace. Among the several claims brought by the Gollobins against ADCO is a claim that ADCO discharged or caused or permitted a discharge of oil upon the Gollobins' land, in violation of Virginia Code § 62.1-44.34:14, et seq.

III.

Until 1990, liability for the discharge of oil was found in Virginia Code §§ 62.1-44.34:2 & :3, which only prohibited "a discharge of oil into state waters ..." and "the discharge of oil into or upon the waters of the Commonwealth." Then, in 1990, the General Assembly enacted § 62.1-44.34:14, et seq., to amend and replace §§ 62.1-44.34:2 & :3, which were repealed. The amended version of the statute expands the reach of the existing legislation beyond state waters to include lands and storm drain systems. Specifically, the amended statute declares that "the discharge of oil into or upon state waters, lands, or storm drain systems within the Commonwealth is prohibited." Virginia Code § 62.1-44.34:18.² This new language is the focus of the issue at bar. Specifically, the question presented is whether the expansion of the statute to cover "lands" was intended by Virginia's General Assembly to include the discharge of oil upon private, as well as public or state, lands.³

Because this is a question of statutory interpretation, analysis properly begins with an examination of the statute's plain language. United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 U.S. 235, 241, 109 S.Ct. 1026, 1030, 103 L.Ed.2d 290 (1989); Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 44 L.Ed.2d 539 (1975). Where a statute's plain language is unambiguous, judicial efforts to construe or interpret the statute are unnecessary and inappropriate. In that event, the statute must be applied in accordance with its plain meaning. See Rubin v. United States, 449 U.S. 424, 101 S.Ct. 698, 66 L.Ed.2d 633 (1981); Helvering v. New York Trust Co., 292 U.S. 455, 54 S.Ct. 806, 78 L.Ed. 1361 (1934); In re Forfeiture Hearing as to Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, 837 F.2d 637, 641 (4th Cir.1988); Salomon Forex, Inc. v. Tauber, 795 F.Supp. 768, 773 (E.D.Va.1992). But where the statute may reasonably be said to be infected with an ambiguity,⁴ it is appropriate for courts to resolve the ambiguity through the application of settled rules of statutory construction and interpretation. See United States v. Jackson, 759 F.2d 342, 344 (4th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 924, 106 S.Ct. 259, 88 L.Ed.2d 265 (1985). Whether a statute is ambiguous is a question of law to be determined by the court. See Wilson v. Holyfield, 227 Va. 184, 313 S.E.2d 396, 398 (1984).

It is fair to say that ambiguity does infect the statute here in issue; the parties' arguments for conflicting interpretations of the statute are strong evidence for this. But close scrutiny of the statute's plain language and structure point convincingly in only one direction, namely toward the conclusion that the statute applies to oil discharges on "state" lands, which category of lands includes privately as well as publicly owned land. To begin with, there can be no reasonable doubt that in the phrase "discharge of oil into or upon state waters, lands, or storm drain systems within the Commonwealth," the qualifier "state," placed before "waters," is applicable to "lands" as well. This follows from the statute's structure, which groups "lands" with "waters" and separates both of these terms from "storm drain systems" by the use of the disjunctive "or." Given this grouping, the qualifying term "state" modifies "lands" as well as "waters," whereas the qualifying phrase "in the Commonwealth" applies only to "storm drains." Had Virginia's General Assembly intended otherwise, that intention could easily have been expressed.

The next question to be answered, then, is what lands fall within the statutory category of "state lands." Although the statute does not include a definition of "state lands," it does define "state waters" as "all water, on the surface and under the ground, wholly or partially within or bordering the Commonwealth or within its jurisdiction." Va.Code § 62.1-44.3. This definition does not distinguish between public and private waters; rather it extends to all waters physically found within, or bordering, the state. Consequently, the qualifier "state," when applied to "lands," must have this same geographical connotation and therefore would apply to public and private lands found within the state.⁵ Again, had Virginia's General Assembly intended to limit the statute's application to state-owned lands, it could easily have chosen appropriate language to express this intent. Instead, the General Assembly chose to make the statute applicable to "state lands," which, by reference to the statutory definition of "state waters," means all lands within the state.

This conclusion finds support elsewhere in the statute. For example, § 62.1-44.34:23 lists one of the exceptions to the statute as "accidental discharges from farm vehicles or noncommercial vehicles." It is reasonable to expect that the General Assembly would not have included this exception, which clearly involves privately owned farm land, if "state lands" extended only to publicly owned lands. Instead, the General Assembly surely included this exception because the statute applies to privately held lands, such as farm land.

Further support for a broad reading of "state lands" is found in the scope of liability created by the statute. The statute holds offenders liable to

any person for injury or damage to person or property, real or personal, loss of income, loss of the means of producing income, or loss of the use of the damaged property for recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other reasonable uses, caused by such discharge. Va.Code § 62.1-44.34:18(C)(4).

This passage clearly contemplates damage to private property. A reading of "lands" as including only publicly owned lands would therefore be inconsistent with the scope of liability created by the statute.

Further support for a reading of "state lands" which includes private lands is found in the purpose of the statute. A statute's underlying purpose is an important interpretive guide in statutory construction. See United States v. Morton, 467 U.S. 822, 104 S.Ct. 2769, 81 L.Ed.2d 680 (1984); United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 101 S.Ct. 2524, 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981); United Hospital Center,...