Neshaminy Water Resources Authority v. Del-Aware Unlimited, Inc.

• Decision Date: 17 August 1984
• Citation: 332 Pa.Super. 461,481 A.2d 879
• Parties: NESHAMINY WATER RESOURCES AUTHORITY v. DEL-AWARE UNLIMITED, INC., Albert Giordano, Colleen Wells, Abbie Hoffman, Marlene Scolie, John M. Krauss, Val Sigstedt, Raymond H. Vannoy, William J. Collins, Perna Argue, Hans Otto Reimann, Jr., Anita J. Griffith, Lyle Rickards, Jr., Fulton A. Grosse, Sharon M. Cannon, Richard H. McNutt, Marc Feinstein, John D. Irwin, Jr., Eugene R. Child, Edward Nasatka, Richard H. Torkelson, and all unnamed persons, firms and corporations acting in concert with Appeals of Joseph GRINROD, William Hines, III, Bruce Crooks, Bonnie McCormick, Mary Jane Olczak and Raphaelle Delvecchio.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

481 A.2d 879

332 Pa.Super. 461

NESHAMINY WATER RESOURCES AUTHORITY v. DEL-AWARE UNLIMITED, INC., Albert Giordano, Colleen Wells, Abbie Hoffman, Marlene Scolie, John M. Krauss, Val Sigstedt, Raymond H. Vannoy, William J. Collins, Perna Argue, Hans Otto Reimann, Jr., Anita J. Griffith, Lyle Rickards, Jr., Fulton A. Grosse, Sharon M. Cannon, Richard H. McNutt, Marc Feinstein, John D. Irwin, Jr., Eugene R. Child, Edward Nasatka, Richard H. Torkelson, and all unnamed persons, firms and corporations acting in concert with Appeals of Joseph GRINROD, William Hines, III, Bruce Crooks, Bonnie McCormick, Mary Jane Olczak and Raphaelle Delvecchio.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

August 17, 1984

Argued Jan. 17, 1984.

J. Michael Ruttle, Newton, for appellants.

David L. Creskoff, Philadelphia, for appellee.

Before ROWLEY, HESTER and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROWLEY Judge:

This is a direct appeal from the orders of July 15, 1983 and July 19 1983, adjudging appellants in civil contempt of court for wilfully disregarding a preliminary injunction previously issued by the trial court on January 10, 1983. Upon a thorough review of the record in this case, we affirm the trial court's adjudications of contempt.

Appellee, the Neshaminy Water Resources Authority (NWRA), is an independent Municipal Authority formed by the Commissioners of Bucks County. This dispute arose in response to the NWRA's attempts to build a water pumping station on an isolated portion of property owned by NWRA, and located along the banks of the Delaware on Route 32 in the Village of Point Pleasant, Bucks County. The proposed purpose of the station was to draw water from the Delaware River in order to supply supplemental water for the use of residents in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, and to supply water to facilities of the Philadelphia Electric Company that would eventually be used at the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. General construction work on the site was scheduled to begin on January 10, 1983. During the first week in January of 1983 demonstrations occurred at the site of the pumping station involving approximately 50 to 100 residents and other individuals who were opposed to the water diversion project. The demonstrations drew a great deal of public attention and resulted in blocking ingress to and egress from the construction site. Consequently, on January 6, 1983, the NWRA filed a complaint in equity requesting a preliminary injunction to enjoin the demonstrations. After a hearing, the trial court determined that NWRA would sustain immediate, irreparable injury if the demonstrations continued and work was delayed thereby, and consequently, the following preliminary injunction was entered:

[T]he Court, effective immediately upon entry hereof, hereby preliminarily enjoins and restrains Defendants and each of them including unnamed persons, firms and corporations acting in concert therewith from all of the following until further Order of this Court:

(A) Trespassing upon all of the premises of Plaintiff including those described in Exhibits "A" and "G" attached to their Complaint in Equity a copy of which is attached hereto which descriptions are herein incorported by reference and upon all of the easements of Plaintiff and the parking lot of the Mountainside Inn as described in hearing Exhibits "NWRA 6, 7 A and B" which are likewise so incorporated herein.

(B) Blocking ingress to and egress from the aforesaid premises of Plaintiff by Plaintiff, its contractors or any other persons, firms or corporations specifically authorized or licensed by Plaintiff to enter thereupon, by any means whatsoever including, but not limited to Defendants parking vehicles, placing objects or persons in a manner preventing ingress and egress either directly upon said premises or upon River Road in the vicinity of said premises or upon the right of way thereof or upon the premises of others in the immediate vicinity of Plaintiff's said premises by reason whereof Plaintiff's access to its premises would be blocked.

(C) Interfering with, blocking or disrupting in any manner whatsoever with the scheduled orderly commencement and completion of the work to be performed upon all of the above premises and in the Delaware River and upon the towpath of the canal by all contractors employed by Plaintiff and other upon or near said premises with the express consent of Plaintiff for the purpose thereof.

(D) Granting Plaintiff such other and further relief as the Court may determine to be justly proper, including but not limited to compensatory and punitive damages.

The Defendants enjoined in this order included, among others, Del-Aware Unlimited, Inc., a non-profit corporation whose members were opposed to the water diversion project, and Albert M. Giordano.

The entry of the injunction did not end the controversy. Shortly thereafter NWRA requested the trial court to hold the named defendants in civil contempt, alleging that they were actively violating the court's order. Numerous other pleadings were then filed by both parties and depositions and hearings ensued. On July 11, 1983, major demonstrations were again held at the site of the pumping station. The Sheriff's department had been notified of the planned protest beforehand, and a number of deputies were dispatched to the site at 7:30 a.m. on July 11, 1983. They found Albert Giordano positioned atop a crane located at the site with a rope fastened about him, and approximately thirty individuals, including appellants, Joseph Grinrod, William Hines, Bonnie McCormick and Mary Jane Olczak, parading in a semi-circle along the road adjoining the site of the pumping station. One of the deputies read the January 10, 1983 order aloud to the protestors. While it was being read, the protestors sang in unison. A few copies of the injunction were then taped to a fence on the property. Mr. Giordano continued to maintain his position atop the crane. Eventually, the construction workers present at the site lowered the crane and Mr. Giordano was taken into custody. A number of protestors then crossed the access road directly onto the property, forming lines by locking arms. The lines then moved toward the construction area where the crane was situated. As this occurred, these individuals were arrested. The appellants previously mentioned were among the persons taken into custody. On July 14, 1983, additional demonstrations took place at the site of the pumping station. With arms linked, the protestors again crossed onto NWRA property, blocking the front gate and preventing ingress to, and egress from, the construction site. Appellants Bruce Crooks and Raphaelle Delvecchio were among the protestors arrested by the Sheriff's department on that day. The procedures employed by the trial court in both situations were identical.

Immediately after being taken into custody, appellants were brought before the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. The trial judge issued a rule upon each protestor to show cause why he/she should not be held in contempt of court for violating the January 10, 1983 order. Hearing dates were then set for July 15, 1983 and July 19, 1983, respectively.

At the July 15, 1983 hearing, deputies from the Sheriff's office testified to the events of July 11, 1983 as described above. In addition, the resident engineer responsible for construction at the site testified that work was delayed during the demonstration. The defendants presented only one witness in order to clarify confusion regarding the identity of one of the protestors. Following this hearing, the court made the rules to show cause absolute against Appellants Grinrod, Hines, McCormick and Olczak, among others. The judge then stated that a second hearing was required in accordance with the criteria set forth in Crislip v. Harshman, 243 Pa.Super. 349, 365 A.2d 1260 (1976). Accordingly, he asked counsel for all parties whether they wished to proceed with the hearing at that time or schedule it for the following week. After a ten minute recess, counsel for the protestors and counsel for NWRA agreed to proceed with the second hearing immediately. No further evidence was offered. On the basis of the evidence presented at the prior hearing, the trial court determined that appellants were guilty of wilful contempt of court for failing to abide by the January 10, 1983 order. The trial judge characterized the contempt as civil, stating that he sought only to compel compliance with the injunction order. Thus, the court allowed any person held in contempt to purge himself or herself of that contempt by merely making a statement that he or she agreed to abide by the order in the future. Appellants refused to make such statements and they were then confined to Bucks County Prison. However, the judge informed them that they could purge themselves of the contempt at any time and be released immediately if they agreed to observe the terms of the injunction. In addition, the court further limited the incarceration to the hours between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., when work was progressing at the site of the pumping station.

At the July 19, 1983 hearing, counsel for Appellants Crooks and Delvecchio stipulated that their behavior during the July 14 1983 demonstration was in violation of the terms of the January 10, 1983 injunction. Thus, these appellants were likewise adjudicated in contempt and conditionally confined to Bucks County Prison until such time as they agreed to abide by the terms of the injunction. On appeal from the trial court's adjudication of contempt, appellants contend that: 1) the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that appellants, Grinrod, Hines, McCormick, and Olczak were within the class of persons enjoined by the injunction order; 2) the trial court did not follow the...