United States v. C & R TRUCKING CO.

• Decision Date: 28 April 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 81-0071-P(H).
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of West Virginia
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. C & R TRUCKING COMPANY, Defendant.

537 F. Supp. 1080

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. C & R TRUCKING COMPANY, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 81-0071-P(H).

United States District Court, N. D. West Virginia, Parkersburg Division.

April 28, 1982.

Betsy C. Steinfeld, Asst. U. S. Atty., Wheeling, W. Va., Carol E. Dinkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., Land and Natural Resources Div., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Diane L. Donley, Atty., Environmental Defense Section, Land and Resources Div., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff.

Ronald W. Kasserman, Galbraith, Seibert, Kasserman, Farnsworth, Gillenwater & Glauser, Wheeling, W. Va., W. H. Ballard, II, Ballard & Brumfield, Welch, W. Va., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HADEN, District Judge.

The Government instituted this action on November 27, 1981, seeking to assess a civil penalty against the Defendant under the Clean Water Act¹ and to recover the costs which it incurred in removing a quantity of oil from a tributary of the Ohio River which was allegedly discharged from the Defendant's truck on or about February 19, 1977.² The Defendant moves this Court to dismiss this action for the reason that it is barred by the three year limitation on the commencement of an action by the Government to recover on a tort claim.³ The parties have submitted memoranda and supplemental materials in support of their respective positions. For the reasons set out below, this Court hereby denies Defendant's motion to dismiss.

I. Background

On or about February 19, 1977, one of the Defendant's tank trucks was involved in an automobile accident on West Virginia Route 2 in Tyler County, West Virginia. As a result of that accident, approximately 6,000 gallons of oil spilled from the Defendant's truck, 3,000 gallons of which allegedly entered into a tributary of the Ohio River.⁴ After the Defendant allegedly refused to ratify a contract with a "clean-up" contractor, the U. S. Coast Guard arranged for the removal of the discharged oil from the aforementioned tributary and its shoreline, pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1321(c).⁵ These clean-up activities continued until March 18, 1977.⁶ On November 21, 1977, the Coast Guard assessed a Two Thousand ($2,000.00) Dollar penalty against the Defendant as a result of the aforementioned oil spill. Defendant has continued in its refusal to pay this penalty, notwithstanding the fact that the Coast Guard affirmed the assessment on May 8, 1978.⁷

II. Statute of Limitations

In the case at bar, there are two distinct causes of action. The first is to recover removal costs, pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1321(f)(2). The second is to assess a civil penalty, pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1321(b)(6)(B).

A. Removal costs.

The Government's cause of action to recover removal costs against the Defendant under Section 311(f)(2) of the Clean Water Act accrued as of March 18, 1977.⁸ Since the Clean Water Act does not contain a specific limitation on the commencement of an action by the Government to recover its removal costs, this Court must apply 28 U.S.C. § 2415, which provides in pertinent part:

"(a) Subject to the provisions of Section 2416 of this Title ... and except as otherwise provided by Congress, every action for money damages brought by the United States or any officer or agency thereof which is founded upon any contract express or implied in law or fact, shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action accrues

....

(b) Subject to the provisions of Section 2416 of this Title ... and except as otherwise provided by Congress, every action for money damages brought by the United States or an officer or agency thereof which is founded upon a tort shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within three years after the right of action first accrues...."

The Defendant argues that the Defendant's cause of action to recover its removal costs under Section 311(f)(2) of the Clean Water Act is a statutorily created nuisance action which sounds in tort. The Government, on the other hand, argues that its cause of action under Section 311(f)(2) sounds in quasi-contract and that 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a) is the applicable statute of limitations.⁹ This Court has only been able to find one unreported district court decision which has addressed this issue.¹⁰

In U. S. v. Poughkeepsie Housing Authority, et al. C.A.No. 80-1998, Slip Op. at 8-9 (S.D.N.Y., Oct. 16, 1981), the court held that the six year limitation contained in 28 U.S.C. § 2514(a) was applicable to an action brought by the Government to recover its removal costs under Section 311(f)(2) of the Clean Water Act. In reaching this conclusion, the Poughkeepsie Housing Authority court reasoned that:

"When one party receives some benefit either in goods or services, but does not compensate the party who has conferred the benefit, courts have allowed the uncompensated party to assert a quantum meruit or quasi-contractual claim for the value of the benefits conferred. See S. S. Silberlatt, Inc. v. East Harlem Pilot Block, 608 F.2d 28, 37 (2d Cir. 1979); Gulf Oil Trading Co. v. Creole Supply, 596 F.2d 515, 520 (2nd Cir. 1979); United States v. Lims, 524 F.2d 799, 801 (9th Cir. 1975); Banco Nacional De Cuba v. Chase Manhattan Bank, 505 F.Supp. 412, 445 (S.D.N. Y.1980). Such a quasi-contractual obligation is created in order to do justice to the parties, `without any expression of dissent.' U. S. v. Neidorf, 522 F.2d 916, 919 (9th Cir. 1979) cert. denied 423 U.S. 1087, 96 S.Ct. 878, 47 L.Ed.2d 97 (1976) (quoting 1A Corbin, Contracts § 19 (1963).

In the instant action, although the oil spill could be considered a tort, see U. S. v. Bear Marine Services, supra, 509 F.Supp. 710 at 718, Comment Oil Pollution of the Sea, 10 Harv.Int'l.L.J. 316, 348 (1969), the government is not seeking compensatory damages suffered as a result thereof, but rather restitution for the money it expended on behalf of the defendants to remove the discharge. Defendants have received the benefits of prompt governmental action on their behalf and should therefore make restitution to the government for its efforts. Accordingly, the government's suit to recover the value of the benefits conferred must be characterized as quasi-contractual. See U. S. v. Palm Beach Gardens, supra, 635 F.2d 337 at 341; 3 Benedict on Admiralty 9-16 (7th Ed., I. Hall, A. Sann & K. Halajian 1980). Moreover, in determining the appropriate statute of limitations, the court adheres to the principal sic that the FWPCA should be liberally construed to accomplish its purposes, see U. S. v. Redwood City, supra, 640 F.2d 963 at 968, one of which is to make the polluters rather than the public pay the cost of oil spill clean-ups, see U. S. v. Coastal States Gathering Co., supra, 643 F.2d 1125 at 1128; U. S. v. Marathon Pipeline Co., supra, 589 F.2d 1305 at 1309. The court believes that if the government is to be given only one chance to recover the money it spends in pollution clean-ups, then the longest statute of limitations possible, given the nature of the suit, should apply."

This Court hereby adopts the Poughkeepsie Housing Authority court's rationale as its own and holds that 28 U.S.C. § 2415(a) is the applicable statute of limitations in an action brought under Section 311(f)(2) of the Clean Water Act. In the case at bar, therefore, this Court finds that the Government's cause of action is not barred by the applicable six year statute of limitations.

B. Civil penalty.

The penalty prescribed by Section 311(b)(6) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1321(b)(6), is civil rather than penal. See U. S. v. Eureka Pipeline Co., 401 F.Supp. 934 (N.D.W.Va.1975). Since the Clean Water Act does not contain a specific limitation on the commencement of an action to assess a civil penalty, this Court must resort to 28 U.S.C. § 2462, which provides:

"Except as otherwise provided by act of Congress, an action, suit or proceeding for the enforcement of any civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture, pecuniary or otherwise, shall not be entertained unless commenced within five years from the date when the claim first accrued if, within the same period, the offender or the property is found within the United States in order that proper service may be made thereon."

In the case at bar, the oil spill is alleged to have occurred on or about February 19, 1977. The Government instituted this action on November 27, 1981, within the five years prescribed by 28 U.S.C....