Interfaith Community Organ. v. Honeywell Intern.
| Decision Date | 13 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 95-2097 (DMC). |
| Citation | 204 F.Supp.2d 804 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
| Parties | INTERFAITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION; Lawrence Baker; Martha Webb Herring; Margaret Webb; Reverend Winston Clarke; Margarita Navas; Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc., consolidated plaintiff; William Sheehan, consolidated plaintiff; Plaintiffs, v. HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC.; W.R. Grace & Company; ECARG, Inc.; W.R. Grace, Ltd.; Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc.; Roned Realty of Union, Inc.; Defendants. |
David W. Field, Michael J. Caffrey, James Stewart, Lowenstein Sandler, PC, Roseland, NJ, for Honeywell Intern., Inc.
Carolyn Smith Pravlick, Steven J. German, Damian A. Schane, Kathleen L. Millian, Terris, Pravlick & Millian, LLP, Washington, DC, Edward Lloyd, Columbia Law School, New York City, NY, for Interfaith Community Organization, Lawrence Baker, Martha Webb Herring, Margaret Webb, Winston Clarke, Margarita Navas, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc., William Sheehan.
William F. Mueller, Clemente, Mueller & Tobia, PA, Morristown, PA, for Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc., Roned Realty of Union City.
Christopher H. Marraro, William Hughes, Angela Pelletier, Wallace King Marraro & Branson, PLLC, Washington, DC, John Michael Agnello, Melissa E. Flax, Carella, Byrne, Bain, Gilfillan, Cecchi, Stewart & Olstein, Roseland, NJ, for W.R. Grace & Co., Ecarg, Inc., W.R. Grace, Ltd.
This matter comes before the Court on motion by Defendants Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc. and Roned Realty of Union, Inc. for summary judgment as to all claims and cross-claims against them. The Court, having carefully reviewed the submissions of all parties regarding this motion, holds that Defendant's motion is granted in part and denied in part.
The facts in this matter are extensive and thus, this Opinion shall only summarize the facts that are pertinent to the present motion. The Court presumes that all parties of record are familiar with the prior opinions in this matter, which discuss the factual background of this case in greater detail. See Interfaith Community Organization v. AlliedSignal, Inc., 928 F.Supp. 1339 (D.N.J.1996) and Interfaith Community Organization, et al. v. Honeywell International, Inc. et al., 188 F.Supp.2d 486 (D.N.J.2002).
The Site (Study Area 7)
The site in question consists of three sites called the Roosevelt Drive-In Site, the Trader Horn Site and the Clean Machine Car Wash Site, collectively referred to as Study Area 7. See Rule 56.1 Statement of Undisputed Facts in Support of Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc.'s and Roned Realty of Union, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment ("Roned 56.1 Statement"), ¶ 1; Defendant Honeywell International Inc.'s Response to Rule 56.1 Statement of Undisputed Facts in Support of Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc.'s and Roned Realty of Union, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment (Honeywell's 56.1 Response"), ¶ 1. The present motion addresses a dispute concerning the Trader Horn Site, a 1.2 acre parcel of land located at 485 Route 440 that is adjacent to the Roosevelt Drive-In Site and the Clean Machine Car Wash Site. Roned 56.1 Statement, ¶¶ 2-3; Honeywell's 56.1 Response, ¶¶ 2-3. The Roned Defendants have no connection to the Roosevelt Drive-In or Clean Machine Car Wash Sites. Roned 56.1 Statement, ¶ 21; Honeywell's 56.1 Response, ¶ 21.
Mutual Chemical Company of America ("Mutual") owned and operated a chromate chemical production facility (the "Facility") on West Side Avenue and Route 440 in Jersey City, New Jersey until 1954. This Facility extracted chromium from chromium ores to produce chromate chemicals. Id., ¶ 46. The process generated chromium-bearing waste or chromium ore processing residue ("COPR") that Mutual transported through a pipeline onto Study Area 7. Roned 56.1 Statement, ¶ 4. In addition to the chromium-bearing waste, Mutual apparently dumped unknown amounts of other refuse at the Site. Additionally, Honeywell asserts that the State of New Jersey granted it riparian rights to deposit COPR in to the Hackensack River. Honeywell's 56.1 Response, ¶ 23.
This is an action brought by Plaintiffs Interfaith Community Organization ("Interfaith"), Lawrence Baker ("Baker"), Martha Webb Herring ("Herring"), Margaret Webb ("Webb"), Reverend Winston Clarke ("Clarke") and Margarita Navas ("Navas") (collectively the "Plaintiffs") against Defendants Honeywell International, Inc. ("Honeywell"), Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc. ("Roned-JC") and Roned Realty of Union, Inc. ("Roned-Union") (together "the Roned Defendants") and W.R. Grace & Co. ("Grace-USA"), ECARG, Inc. ("ECARG") and W.R. Grace, Ltd. ("Grace England") (together "Grace Companies") (collectively the "Defendants") seeking declaratory and injunctive relief mandating the cleanup of environmental contamination at Study Area 7 (the "Site"). Interfaith Community Organization et al. v. Honeywell International, Inc. et al., 188 F.Supp.2d 486, 489 (D.N.J.2002).
Interfaith is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey. Amended Complaint, ¶ 19. Interfaith alleges its interest in chromium contamination in Hudson County and at the Site arose from its (1) inability to locate non-chromium contaminated land in Hudson County upon which it could construct six hundred units of affordable single-family housing and (2) the discovery that member churches were built on land contaminated with chromium. Id., ¶¶ 20-21; Affidavit of Reverend Geoffrey Curtiss ("Curtiss Aff."), ¶¶ 4-5. The remaining individual Plaintiffs are members of Interfaith that reside and work in the vicinity of the Site, frequently drive by the Site and sometimes shop in stores near the Site. Amended Complaint, ¶ 23.
Honeywell is incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. Id., ¶ 38. Mutual, a prior subsidiary of Honeywell, owned and operated a chromate chemical production facility across the street from the Site from approximately 1905 to 1954. Id. The Site was used during this time to dispose of COPR from the chromate plant. In 1954, Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation acquired Mutual and sold the Site to Amy Joy Realty Corporation for the construction of a drive-in movie theater. Id. Between March 1955 and 1999, Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation underwent corporate reorganization and eventually came to be known as Honeywell International, Inc. See Interfaith Community Organization, 188 F.Supp.2d at 490.
Grace-USA is a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Connecticut. Amended Complaint, ¶ 41. Grace-England is a direct subsidiary of Grace-USA with a registered office in London, England. Id. ECARG is a New Jersey corporation and a subsidiary of W.R. Grace & Co. Id. Grace-USA and Grace-England were the sole stockholders of Grace Retail Corporation ("Grace Retail"), which acquired two parcels of land constituting the largest portion of the Site (the Roosevelt Drive-In Site and the Clean Machine Car Wash). Id., ¶ 42. In November 1986, the Channel Acquisition Company ("Channel") acquired Grace Retail and pursuant to a letter agreement, Grace Retail was to distribute some of its assets, including its portion of the Site, to Grace-USA and Grace-England. Id., ¶ 43. This transfer, however, never occurred. Id. Nevertheless, Grace-USA and Grace-England were unaware that the transfer did not occur and acted as owners of the parcels until October 14, 1994. Id. On October 14, 1994, then-owner Channel conveyed the parcels to ECARG. Id., ¶ 44.
Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc. and Roned Realty of Union, Inc. are corporations incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey since 1979. Id., ¶ 45; Declaration of Edward Navlen ("Navlen Decl."), ¶¶ 2-3. The Trader Horn Site is owned by Roned-JC as evidenced by quitclaim deed recorded on August 30, 1995. Fourth Declaration of Michael J. Caffrey, Exhibit 70; Roned 56.1 Statement, ¶ 15; Honeywell 56.1 Response, ¶ 15; Second Declaration of Edward Navlen, Exhibit A. Roned-Union never owned any portion of the Trader Horn Site. Roned 56.1 Statement, ¶ 15; Honeywell 56.1 Response, ¶ 15; Declaration of Edward Navlen ("Navlen Decl."), ¶¶ 6-7. At present, the Trader Horn Site is occupied by a retail store.
Each Roned entity was formed for the purposes of owning Trader Horn properties in particular locales. Roned-Union was formed to own properties in Union County, whereas Roned-JC was created to own properties in Jersey City, New Jersey. Navlen Decl., ¶ 5. The Roned Defendants allege that they have taken no part in contaminating the Trader Horn Site.
The chromium found at the Site is primarily trivalent and hexavalent chromium. Both forms raise environmental and human health concerns, but hexavalent chromium is the more toxic chromium compound. Airborne chromium and chromium compounds are categorized as carcinogenic by Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") standards, but other organizations, such as the National Toxicity Institute, consider all compounds containing chromium to have carcinogenic potential. See Risk Assessment for Chromium Sites in Hudson County, New Jersey, 3-16, 3-17 (April 1989), attached as Exhibit 45 to Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition to [Honeywell International, Inc.]'s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint and in Support of Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the Issue of Standing. Hexavalent chromium can also cause non-carcinogenic ailments by penetrating human skin to cause or exacerbate allergic and irritative effects on the respiratory system, kidneys, and skin. Id. at 3-5, 3-19, 3-20, 3-22.
Plaintiffs filed a complaint (the "Complaint") on May 3, 1995. At a status conference held on July 27, 1995, Plaintiffs were granted leave to amend the Complaint. The Amended Complaint was filed on August 2, 1995.
In Count I of the Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants violated ...
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Interfaith Community Organ. v. Honeywell Intern.
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