New Mexico v. General Elec. Co., CIV 99-1118 BSJ/KBM.
| Decision Date | 06 April 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV 99-1118 BSJ/KBM.,No. CIV 99-1254 BSJ/ACT (Consolidated).,CIV 99-1118 BSJ/KBM.,CIV 99-1254 BSJ/ACT (Consolidated). |
| Parties | State of NEW MEXICO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
Brian K. Branch, Law Offices of Brian K Branch, Albuquerque, NM, Turner W. Branch, Harry E. Stowers, Jr., Brian P. Brack, Steven J. Leibel Branch Law Firm, Albuquerque, NM, Andrew Sher, The Sher Law Firm, Houston, TX, R. Thomas Seymour, C. Robert Burton, Seymour Law Firm, Tulsa, OK, Bruce S. Garber, Garber & Hallmark, Santa Fe, NM, Thomas V. Girardi, David R. Lira, Girardi & Keese, Los Angeles, CA, Walter Lack, Stephen R. Terrell, Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Craig Lewis, Michael T. Gallagher, Gallagher, Lewis & Kim, Houston, TX, William G. Rosch, III, Rosch & Ross, Houston, TX, Glenn R. Smith, NM Atty. General's Office, Santa Fe, NM, for Plaintiffs.
Bradford C. Berge, Holland & Hart, LLP, Santa Fe, NM, J.A. Tony Canales, Canales & Simonson, PC, Corpus Christi, TX, William J. Duffy, Robert W. Lawrence Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO, Donald P. Fowler, Spriggs & Hollingsworth, Washington, DC, William V. Killoran, General Electric Co., Environmental Affairs Counsel, Cincinnati, OH, Paul B. Galvani, Ropes & Gray, Boston, MA, Peter A. Modlin, Farella, Braun & Martel, LLP, San Francisco, CA, Tami Lyn Azorsky, Traci M. Vanek, McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP, Washington, DC, Maria O'Brien, Lynn Slade, Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, Albuquerque, NM, Gregory D. Huffaker, Jr., Ann Maloney Conway, Michael J. Moffett, Huffaker & Conway PC, Alburquerque, NM, Gerald F. George, Andrew L. Strong, Campbell, George & Strong, LLP, Oakland, CA, Robert E. Meadows, King & Spalding, Houston, TX, Robert E. Meadows, Carol M. Wood, Reginald R. Smith, Charles C. Correll, Jr., King & Spalding, Houston, TX, Richard L. Alvidrez, Mary M. Behm, Keleher & McLeod, Alburquerque, NM, for Defendants.
Albuquerque's South Valley is located about 2.5 miles south of downtown Albuquerque, west of the Albuquerque International Airport around the intersections of Woodward Avenue with Broadway Avenue and Edmunds Street. The South Valley area has been the site of manufacturing operations since at least 1948, when the Eidal Manufacturing Company operated a welding plant on Broadway Avenue. In 1951, the Atomic Energy Commission, through American Car and Foundry ("ACF Industries"), took over the property, constructed plant facilities and engaged in machining of metal parts, plating, welding and other activities related to the manufacture of nuclear weapons components. This continued until 1967, when the United States Air Force (USAF) assumed control over the property and converted the facility into an aircraft engine parts manufacturing plant, known as U.S. Air Force Plant 83 ("Plant 83."), operated by General Electric Company under a series of facilities contracts and leases. In 1984, Plant 83 was sold to General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE) and remains in operation today as an aircraft engine parts manufacturing facility. Other industrial facilities have been located in South Valley as well, including petroleum product pipeline and bulk distribution facilities operated by Chevron, Texaco and others, and an industrial chemical distribution facility on Edmunds Street owned and operated by Univar.
In 1979, chemical analysis of samples collected from one of the City of Albuquerque's municipal water supply wells, the San Jose 6 Well ("SJ-6"),1 located near the intersection of Woodward and Broadway Avenues in the South Valley, detected the presence of hazardous substances consisting...
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