Interfaith Community Organ. v. Honeywell Intern.
| Decision Date | 26 July 2002 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 95-2097DMC. |
| Citation | 215 F.Supp.2d 482 |
| 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. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
David W. Field, Michael J. Caffrey, James Stewart, Lowenstein Sandler, PC, Roseland, NJ, for Honeywell International, Inc.
Carolyn Smith Pravlick, Steven J. German, Damian A. Schane, Kathleen L. Millian, Terris, Pravlick & Millian, LLP, Washington, DC, and Edward Lloyd, New York, NY, for Interfaith Community Organization, Lawrence Baker, Martha Webb Herring, Margaret Webb, Winston Clarke, Rev., Margarita Navas and Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. and William Sheehan.
William F. Mueller, Clemente, Mueller & Tobia, PA, Morristown, NJ, for Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc. and Roned Realty of Union City, Inc.
Christopher H. Marraro, William Hughes, Angela Pelletier, Wallace King Marraro & Branson, PLLC, Washington, DC, and John Michael Agnello, Melissa E. Flax, Carella, Byrne, Bain, Gilfillan, Cecchi, Stewart & Olstein, Roseland, NJ, for W.R. Grace & Company, Ecarg, Inc., W.R. Grace, Ltd.
Before the Court are several motions that shall be addressed in this Opinion. First, Defendants W.R. Grace & Company and W.R. Grace, Ltd. have moved for summary judgment as to all cross-claims asserted against them by Defendant Honeywell International, Inc. Second, W.R. Grace & Co. has moved for summary judgment on Counts Two and Twelve of its Third Amended Cross-Claims against Honeywell International, Inc. Third, Honeywell International, Inc. has cross-moved against W.R. Grace & Co. to have Counts Two and Twelve of W.R. Grace & Co.'s Third Amended Cross-Claims dismissed. Fourth, Ecarg, Inc. has moved for partial summary judgment on Counts Three and Twelve of its Third Amended Cross-Claims against Honeywell. Fifth, Honeywell has also cross-moved against Ecarg, Inc. to dismiss Counts Three and Twelve of Ecarg, Inc.'s Third Amended Cross Claims. Sixth, the Grace Defendants have moved for summary judgment on Count Five of its Third Amended Cross-Claims. Seventh, Honeywell International, Inc. has filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to dismiss the Grace Defendants Third Amended Cross-Claims. Eighth, Ecarg, Inc. seeks to have this Court apply a portion of its June 13, 2002 Opinion as law of the case to dismiss certain cross-claims by Honeywell International, Inc. against Ecarg, Inc. Ninth, Honeywell International, Inc. has requested that this Court reconsider its June 13, 2002 Opinion in part. Tenth, consolidated plaintiffs William Sheehan and Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. have moved for a stay of any further proceedings in the consolidated Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. et al. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 00-1451(DMC), to which Honeywell International, Inc. responds by cross-moving for dismissal or in the alternative, additional discovery.
For the reasons stated in this Opinion, the Court holds that Defendants W.R. Grace & Co. and W.R. Grace, Ltd.'s motion for partial summary judgment as to Honeywell International, Inc.'s cross-claims is granted. W.R. Grace & Co.'s motion for partial summary judgment and Honeywell's cross-motion regarding Counts Two and Twelve of the Grace Defendants' Third Amended Cross-Claims are denied. Ecarg, Inc.'s motion for partial summary judgment and Honeywell's cross-motion regarding Counts Three and Twelve of the Grace Defendants' Third Amended Cross-Claims are denied. The Grace Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment on Count Five of its Third Amended Cross-Claims is denied. Honeywell International, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part. Ecarg's application to have this Court apply its June 13, 2002 reasoning to dismiss certain crossclaims against Ecarg, Inc. is denied. Honeywell's request that this Court reconsider its June 13, 2002 Opinion in part is granted and upon reconsideration, this Court reverses itself in part. Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. and William Sheehan's motion for a stay of any further proceedings in Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. et al. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 00-1451(DMC) is granted. Honeywell International, Inc.'s cross-motion for dismissal of the Hackensack Riverkeeper matter and in the alternative, for additional discovery, is denied.
The facts in this matter are extensive and thus, this Opinion will only summarize the facts that are pertinent to the presently pending motions. The Court presumes that all parties of record are familiar with the prior opinions in this matter. See Interfaith Cmty. Org. v. Alliedsignal, Inc., 928 F.Supp. 1339 (D.N.J.1996); Interfaith Cmty. Org. et al. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc. et al., 188 F.Supp.2d 486 (D.N.J.2002); Interfaith Cmty. Org. et al. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc. et al., 204 F.Supp.2d 804 (D.N.J.2002), also available at 2002 WL 1301351 (D.N.J. 2002).
The Site (Study Area 7)
The Site1 in question consists of three parcels of land known as the Roosevelt Drive In Site, the Trader Horn Site and the Clean Machine Car Wash Site, collectively referred to as Study Area 7. The present motions address the Roosevelt Drive In Site and Clean Machine Car Wash Site, both owned at present by Ecarg, Inc.2 None of the three Grace entities in this case are connected to the Trader Horn Site, presently owned by Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc.
Mutual Chemical Company of America ("Mutual") is a chromate chemical processing company that was originally formed in 1827 and expanded into Jersey City, New Jersey in or about 1905. Second Declaration of Michael J. Caffrey, Ex. 38 at 287. 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. Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint ("Amended Compl."), ¶ 46. The process generated chromium-bearing waste or chromium ore processing residue ("COPR") that Mutual transported through a pipeline onto Study Area 7.
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")3 (together "the Roned Defendants") and W.R. Grace & Co. ("Grace-USA")4, Ecarg, Inc. ("Ecarg") and W.R. Grace, Ltd. ("Grace-England")5 (together "the Grace Defendants") (collectively the "Defendants") seeking declaratory and injunctive relief mandating the cleanup of environmental contamination at Study Area 7 (the "Site"). Interfaith Cmty. Org. et al. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc. et al., 188 F.Supp.2d 486, 489 (D.N.J.2002). Interfaith's complaint prompted Honeywell and the Grace Defendants to file various cross-claims against each other. The majority of the motions discussed in this Opinion pertain to these cross-claims.
Interfaith is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey. Amended Compl., ¶ 19. The remaining individual Plaintiffs Baker, Herring, Webb, Clarke and Navas are concerned citizens living near Study Area 7. Plaintiffs are not directly involved in the present motions.
On September 4, 2001, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. et al. v. Honeywell Int'l et al., Civil Action No. 00-1451(DMC) was consolidated with the present matter. Consolidated Plaintiff Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. ("Hackensack Riverkeeper") is a not-for-profit public interest corporation formed under the laws of New Jersey in 1997. Hackensack Riverkeeper, et al. v. Honeywell et al., Civil Action No. 00-1451(DMC), Second Amended Complaint ("Consolidated Plaintiffs' Compl."), ¶ 28. Hackensack Riverkeeper's purpose is to protect, preserve and restore the Hackensack River and its living resources and to increase public awareness of the lower Hackensack River watershed's viability as a natural and recreational resource. Consolidated Plaintiffs' Compl., ¶ 29. Hackensack Riverkeeper operates various ecological and recreational programs and activities on, around, and in connection with the Hackensack River. Id., ¶¶ 30-31. Study Area 7's COPR contamination, which Hackensack Riverkeeper maintains is also polluting the Hackensack River, adversely impacts on Hackensack Riverkeeper's ability to operate these activities and spread awareness of the Hackensack River's viability as a natural resource. Id., ¶ 32. Consolidated plaintiff William Sheehan ("Sheehan") is an employee of Hackensack Riverkeeper and a recreational user of the Hackensack River. Id., ¶¶ 33, 34.
Roned Realty of Jersey City, Inc. is a corporation formed under the laws of the State of New Jersey since 1979 and present owner of the Trader Horn Site. Amended Compl., ¶ 45; Declaration of Edward Navlen ("Navlen Decl."), ¶¶ 2-3; Fourth Declaration of Michael J. Caffrey, Exhibit 70; Second Declaration of Edward Navlen, Exhibit A. Roned-JC is not directly involved in the presently pending motions.
Honeywell is incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. Amended Compl., ¶ 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,...
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