People ex rel. Madigan v. Petco Petroleum
| Decision Date | 04 January 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 4-04-0868.,No. 4-04-0558.,4-04-0558.,4-04-0868. |
| Citation | 841 N.E.2d 1065 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois ex rel. Lisa MADIGAN, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. PETCO PETROLEUM CORPORATION, an Indiana Corporation, Defendant-Appellant and Cross-Appellee (Jay Douglas Bergman, Defendant). The People of the State of Illinois ex rel. Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Petco Petroleum Corporation, an Indiana Corporation, and Jay Douglas Bergman, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Charles J. Northrup (argued), Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen & Cochran, Ltd. Springfield, for Petco Petroleum Corporation.
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Gary S. Feinerman, Solicitor General, Erik G. Light, Assistant Attorney General (argued), Chicago, for People ex rel. Lisa Madigan.
In December 2000, the State filed an amended two-count complaint against defendants, Petco Petroleum Corporation and Jay Douglas Bergman, Petco's president, alleging multiple violations of the Illinois Oil and Gas Act (225 ILCS 725/1 through 28.1 (West 2000)) and seeking injunctive relief, as well as civil penalties. In February 2004, the trial court entered a judgment against Petco and Bergman and granted the State most of the relief it sought. However, in May 2004, after considering Petco's and Bergman's motions to reconsider, the court amended its order and (1) reversed its position on the question of Bergman's liability and (2) denied the State's request for a permanent injunction against Petco and Bergman. In June 2004, Petco filed a notice of appeal (case No. 4-04-0558), and the State filed a motion to reconsider the court's May 2004 order. In September 2004, the trial court denied the State's motion to reconsider. Later that same month, the State filed a notice of appeal (case No. 4-04-0868) and a notice of cross-appeal (case No. 4-04-0558).
Petco appeals, arguing that (1) this court lacks jurisdiction over the State's appeal and cross-appeal because the State's September 2004 notices of appeal and cross-appeal were not timely; and (2) the trial court erred by (a) determining that section 240.155 of Title 62 of the Illinois Administrative Code (62 Ill. Adm.Code § 240.155 (Conway Greene CD-ROM April 2000)), under which the State brought its claims, was valid and (b) imposing on Petco a civil penalty totaling $168,000. The State appeals, arguing that (1) this court lacks jurisdiction over Petco's appeal because Petco's notice of appeal was premature; and (2) the trial court erred by (a) finding that Bergman was not personally liable as a responsible corporate officer, (b) declining to issue an injunction against Petco and Bergman, (c) failing to order Petco to post a $100,000 bond, and (d) failing to bar Petco and Bergman from acquiring additional drilling permits.
We conclude that (1) the State's notice of appeal was timely, (2) Petco's notice of appeal was premature, and (3) the trial court erred by declining to issue an injunction against Petco. Otherwise, we affirm the trial court's judgment. Accordingly, we dismiss Petco's appeal (case No. 4-04-0558) and the State's cross-appeal (case No. 4-04-0558), reverse the court's denial of the State's requested injunction against Petco (case No. 4-04-0868), remand for entry of the State's requested injunctive relief against Petco, and otherwise affirm the court's judgment.
In December 2000, the State filed an amended complaint for injunctive and other relief against Petco (count I) and Bergman (count II). The State alleged, in pertinent part, that in the preceding two years, Petco and Bergman were responsible for 168 documented spill events at the oil well sites for which Petco had permits issued by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. For relief, the State requested that the court (1) enter findings that (a) Petco and Bergman had violated provisions of the Oil and Gas Act (225 ILCS 725/1 through 28.1 (West 2000)) and the oil and gas regulations contained in the Administrative Code (62 Ill. Adm.Code §§ 240.10 through 240.1960 (Conway Greene CD-ROM April 2000)) by repeatedly allowing the improper disposal, release, or discharge of produced fluids, thus resulting in an imminent danger of substantial environmental harm or environmental damage to property and contamination of surface water or groundwater causing environmental damage, (b) a pattern of documented events involving improper disposal, release, or discharge of produced fluids occurred during the preceding two years, and (c) Petco and Bergman failed to operate in a prudent manner, pursuant to industry standards; (2) permanently enjoin Petco and Bergman from further violations of the Oil and Gas Act (225 ILCS 725/1 through 28.1 (West 2000)); (3) order Petco to submit a written oil and gas facilities operation maintenance plan that would insure compliance with the Department's rules; (4) order Petco to submit and maintain a $100,000 bond; (5) impose a civil penalty against Petco and Bergman totaling $223,000; (6) enjoin Petco and Bergman from acquiring additional permits to drill new oil or gas production wells until the Department released the $100,000 bond; (7) award the Department its costs; and (8) grant such other relief as the court deemed appropriate.
In May 2002, the State filed a motion for summary judgment as to count I, and in June 2002, Petco filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting, in pertinent part, that section 240.155 of Title 62 of the Administrative Code, under which the State brought its amended complaint, was invalid. In July 2002, the trial court granted the State's summary-judgment motion, upon finding that no genuine issue of material fact existed as to the specific allegations against Petco. The court also denied Petco's motion for summary judgment.
During October and December 2002, the trial court conducted a bench trial on (1) count II of the State's amended complaint and (2) the relief to be granted as to Petco and Bergman. (We will discuss the evidence in the pertinent analysis sections.) At the conclusion of the evidence, the court instructed the parties to file posttrial briefs in lieu of closing arguments. In January 2003, the State filed its posttrial brief, and in March 2003, Petco and Bergman filed their posttrial briefs.
In February 2004, the trial court entered a written order, in which it (1) found that Bergman was personally liable as a responsible corporate officer for Petco's violations of the Oil and Gas Act, (2) entered judgment in favor of the State and against Petco and Bergman, (3) permanently enjoined Petco and Bergman from committing further violations of the Oil and Gas Act and the Administrative Code, (4) ordered Petco to submit within 30 days a written oil and gas facilities operation maintenance plan to ensure compliance with the Department's rules, (5) denied the State's request for a $100,000 bond, (6) ordered Petco and Bergman to pay civil penalties totaling $168,000 under section 26 of the Oil and Gas Act (225 ILCS 725/26 (West 2000)), and (7) denied the State's request that Petco and Bergman be permanently restrained from seeking additional permits to drill new oil or gas production wells.
In March 2004, Petco and Bergman each filed a motion to reconsider the trial court's judgment. In April 2004, the State filed separate responses to Petco's and Bergman's motions to reconsider.
On May 26, 2004, the trial court entered a written amended order that modified its February 2004 order in the following respects: (1) it entered judgment against the State and in Bergman's favor on count II, (2) it denied the State's request for a permanent injunction against Petco and Bergman, and (3) it modified what Petco was required to include in the oil and gas facilities operation maintenance plan. In all other respects, the court affirmed its February 2004 order.
On June 22, 2004, the State filed separate motions to reconsider and strike the trial court's May 26, 2004, order as to Petco and Bergman.
On June 25, 2004, Petco filed its notice of appeal (case No. 4-04-0558). In July 2004, Petco and Bergman filed responses to the State's June 22, 2004, motion to reconsider, and on September 8, 2004, the trial court denied the State's motion. On September 22, 2004, the State filed (1) a notice of appeal of the court's September 8, 2004, order (case No. 4-04-0868), and (2) a notice of cross-appeal (case No. 4-04-0558). Petco did not file a new notice of appeal following the court's September 8, 2004, denial of the State's motion to reconsider.
While this appeal was pending, the Supreme Court of Illinois promulgated Supreme Court Rule 274, which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
Official Reports Advance Sheet No. 22 (October 26, 2005) R. 274, eff. January 1, 2006.
The committee comments to Rule 274 provide, in pertinent part, as...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Guns Save Life, Inc. v. Raoul
...or unreasonable, or when no reasonable person would adopt the court's view." People ex rel. Madigan v. Petco Petroleum Corp. , 363 Ill. App. 3d 613, 634, 299 Ill.Dec. 333, 841 N.E.2d 1065, 1082 (2006) ; see also People v. Taylor , 2016 IL App (1st) 141251, ¶ 15, 408 Ill.Dec. 292, 65 N.E.3d ......
-
In re Marriage of Duggan
...permitting the supreme court to take the case and reverse the prior judgment); People ex rel. Madigan v. Petco Petroleum Corp., 363 Ill.App.3d 613, 619-21, 299 Ill. Dec. 333, 841 N.E.2d 1065 (2006) (retroactively applying amendments to Rule 274 that permitted that court to exercise jurisdic......
-
People ex rel. Madigan v. J.T. Einoder, Inc.
...to corporate officer liability will not be reversed unless it is manifestly erroneous. People ex rel. Madigan v. Petco Petroleum Corp., 363 Ill.App.3d 613, 623, 299 Ill.Dec. 333, 841 N.E.2d 1065 (2006). Manifest error is that which is clearly evident, plain, and indisputable. People v. Morg......
-
Vance v. Joyner
...simply because an alternative may have been available to the trial court. See People ex rel. Madigan v. Petco Petroleum Corp. , 363 Ill. App. 3d 613, 634, 299 Ill.Dec. 333, 841 N.E.2d 1065, 1082 (2006) ("A trial court abuses its discretion only when its ruling is arbitrary, fanciful, or unr......