Mayor & City of Baltimore v. Csx Transp., Inc.

• Decision Date: 14 December 2005
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. RDB 04-2348.,CIV.A. RDB 04-2348.
• Citation: 404 F.Supp.2d 869
• Parties: MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, et al, Plaintiffs, v. CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC., et al. Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

404 F.Supp.2d 869

MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, et al, Plaintiffs, v. CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC., et al. Defendants.

No. CIV.A. RDB 04-2348.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

December 14, 2005.

Elizabeth F. Harris, Ralph S. Tyler, David E. Ralph, Donald R. Huskey, James Reginald Benjamin, Jr., Baltimore City Law Department, Baltimore, MD, for Plaintiffs.

Richard J. Magid, Frank J. Mastro, Whiteford Taylor and Preston LLP, Baltimore, MD, Ana Cecilia Reyes, F. Greg Bowman, Heidi K. Hubbard, Lisa M. Duggan, Williams and Connolly LLP, Robert Bruce Wallace, A. Daniel Ullman, Kevin Patrick Farrell, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman and Dicker LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BENNETT, District Judge.

This action arises out of a complaint that the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the Commissioner of the Baltimore City Police Department, and the Baltimore City Parking Authority (collectively, the "City") filed against CSX Transportation, Inc., a Virginia corporation ("CSX"), and Southwest Rail Industries, Inc., a Texas corporation ("SRI"). The City seeks to recover millions of dollars of damages that it suffered, allegedly as the result of unlawful conduct and negligence of CSX and SRI in connection with the derailment of a train in the Howard Street Tunnel in the City of Baltimore on July 18, 2001. Currently pending before this Court is SRI's Motion for Summary Judgment, which contends that SRI is entitled to judgment on each of the City's negligence claims against SRI as a matter of law and, in the alternative, argues that those claims are preempted by the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. § 20101-1311 (as amended and recodified) ("FRSA") and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 5101-28 (as amended and recodified) ("HMTA"). This Court has diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The issues have been fully briefed and a hearing was conducted on November 17, 2005. For the reasons that follow, SRI's Motion for Summary Judgment will be GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

This Court reviews the facts of this case in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On July 18, 2001, eleven cars from a sixty-car freight train operated by CSX derailed in the Howard Street Tunnel in the City of Baltimore. Among the derailed cars was a railcar labeled "SRIX 30015," which was carrying tripropylene, a petroleum-based chemical. The derailment resulted in the puncturing of SRIX 30015, which caused tripropylene to leak into the Howard Street Tunnel. The tripropylene subsequently ignited and the resulting fire, which released toxic fumes and allegedly caused a water main to rupture, lasted five days. (See generally Am. Compl.)

SRI is a privately owned transportation service company incorporated in Texas. (Mot. for Summ. J., p. 2.) The company consists of four officers and three employees, all of whom work in Weimer, Texas. (Id.) SRI's primary business is the leasing of railroad equipment. (Id.) In this capacity, SRI acts as a "matchmaker" between owners of railroad equipment and corporations in need of railroad equipment. (Id.)

On July 1, 1998, SRI entered into an Agreement with Rail Car Operators, Inc. ("Rail Car Operators"). (Mot. for Summ. J., pp. 2-3.) This agreement obligated SRI to use its best efforts to obtain revenue with respect to certain railway equipment, including fifty railcars, owned by Rail Car Operators, Inc. (Id. at pp. 2-3; Ex. 2, Art. III, ¶ 2.) One of those cars was TEIX 30015, which was later labeled "SRIX 30015." (Id. at p. 3.)

On September 1, 1998, SRI entered into Master Lease Contract No. 101 with Exxon Chemical Americas, a division of what is now the ExxonMobil Corporation ("Exxon"). (Mot. for Summ. J., p. 3.) Under this lease agreement, SRI agreed to lease five tank cars, including SRIX 30015, to Exxon. (Id. at Ex. 3.)

In July 2001, Exxon contracted with The Kansas City Southern Railway Company to transport SRIX 30015 from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Bayonne, New Jersey. (Mot. for Summ. J., p. 5.) After changing rail carriers a number of times, SRIX 30015 was placed on CSX eastbound freight train L-412-16, which subsequently derailed in the Howard Street Tunnel. (Id.)

On July 16, 2004, the City of Baltimore filed a Complaint against CSX in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland. On July 19, 2004, the City of Baltimore filed a First Amended Complaint that added SRI as a defendant. On July 22, 2004, CSX removed this action to this Court. On August 12, 2005, SRI filed its Motion for Summary Judgment.

LEGAL PRINCIPLES

Summary judgment is appropriate under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and the moving party is plainly entitled to judgment in its favor as a matter of law. In Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986), the Supreme Court explained that, in considering a motion for summary judgment, "the judge's function is not himself to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial." A dispute about a material fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Thus, "the judge must ask himself not whether he thinks the evidence unmistakably favors one side or the other but whether a fair-minded jury could return a verdict for the [nonmoving party] on the evidence presented." Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

In undertaking this inquiry, a court must view the facts and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom "in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion," Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986), but the opponent must bring forth evidence upon which a reasonable fact finder could rely. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "Once the movant has established the absence of any genuine issue of material fact, the opposing party has an obligation to present some type of evidence to the court demonstrating the existence of an issue of fact." Pension Ben. Guar. Corp. v. Beverley, 404 F.3d 243, 246-47 (4th Cir.2005) (citing Pine Ridge Coal Co. v. Local 8377, UMW, 187 F.3d 415, 422 (4th Cir.1999)). Rule 56(e) also requires that "affidavits submitted by the party defending against a summary-judgment motion contain specific facts, admissible in evidence, from an affiant competent to testify, `showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Id. (quoting 10B Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: § 2740 (3d ed.1998)). The mere existence of a "scintilla" of evidence in support of the nonmoving party's case is not sufficient to preclude an order granting summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

This Court has previously held that a "party cannot create a genuine dispute of material fact through mere speculation or compilation of inferences." Shin v. Shalala, 166 F.Supp.2d 373, 375 (D.Md.2001) (citations omitted). Indeed, this Court has an affirmative obligation to prevent factually unsupported claims and defenses from going to trial. Drewitt v. Pratt, 999 F.2d 774, 778-79 (4th Cir.1993) (quoting Felty v. Graves-Humphreys Co., 818 F.2d 1126, 1128 (4th Cir.1987)).

DISCUSSION

I. The City's Claims Against SRI.

The City's amended complaint contains seventeen counts, only three of which concern SRI: Count XV (negligence against SRI on behalf of the City of Baltimore); Count XVI (negligence against SRI on behalf of the Police Commissioner); and Count XVII (negligence against SRI on behalf of the Parking Authority). (See Am. Compl., ¶¶ 93-100.)

As the source of this Court's jurisdiction over this case is based on diversity of citizenship, the principles set forth in Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938) require application of the law of Maryland to questions of substantive law. Under Maryland law, a cause of action in negligence requires that the plaintiff show: (1) that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff; (2) that the defendant breached that duty; (3) that the plaintiff suffered actual injury or loss; and (4) that the loss or injury proximately resulted from the defendant's breach of the duty. See, e.g., Rosenblatt v. Exxon Co., U.S.A., 335 Md. 58, 642 A.2d 180, 188 (1994) (citations omitted). This Court's analysis of the City's negligence claims against SRI will be guided accordingly.

II. Ownership of SRIX 30015.

The parties vigorously dispute whether SRIX 30015 is owned by SRI. This is important to the City's negligence analysis because the City claims that SRI's duty derives from its ownership of the subject tank car. (See, e.g., Opp'n to Mot. for Summ. J., p. 12 ("SRI, as the owner of [SRIX 30015], was required under the applicable federal regulations and the [Exxon Lease] to maintain and inspect [SRIX 30015].") (emphasis added).) See also Erie Ins. Co. v. Chops, 322 Md. 79, 585 A.2d 232, 234 (1991) ("Essential to the proof of any cause of action for negligence is the establishment of a legally cognizable duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff ..."); Hemmings v. Pelham Wood, 375 Md. 522, 826 A.2d 443, 451 (2003) ("the existence of a legal duty is a question of law to be decided by the court.") (quoting Valentine v. On Target, Inc., 353 Md. 544, 727 A.2d 947, 949 (1999)).

SRI maintains that it does not own SRIX 30015. SRI states that its agreement with Rail Car Operators proves that the latter owns SRIX 30015, and that its agreement with Exxon shows that SRI is merely the lessor of this railcar. (See Mot. for Summ. J., pp. 2-4.) As lessor, SRI contends that it owes only the narrowest duty to the City, namely "a limited duty...