Ground contaminated by petroleum products: Negligent containment of toxic material: Lost property value: Settlement

Law Reporter, Oct 2003

TOXIC TORTS

Fairey v. Exxon Corp., S.C., Orangeburg County C.C.P., No. 94-CP-38-118, July 15, 2003.

Fairey owned and rented out property that had formerly had a gas station on it. While attempting to sell the property, she had environmental testing done on it. The testing revealed that the soil and groundwater were contaminated by petroleum products. Further investigation revealed six underground storage tanks containing toxic material.

Fairey, as representative of a class of between 300 and 1,000 other property owners in similar circumstances, sued the company that had owned and operated the gas station, alleging negligent maintenance of its facility in that it allowed petroleum products to be released into the surrounding land and water. In addition to health hazards posed by petroleum products, the contamination reduced the value of Fairey's land and made it difficult to sell.

Defendant initially represented that it had removed all its tanks and lines from the property in 1987. When the six storage tanks containing toxic materials-including gasoline and fuel oil-were found during the litigation, defendant argued that it was no longer responsible for the tanks and lines because it had executed a quitclaim deed.

The parties settled during trial. The settlement amount was reported by the Orangeburg Times and Democrat as approximately $30 million.

Plaintiffs' expert witnessses included Marcel Moreau, underground storage tanks/industry practices, Portland, Me.; John M. Schafer, groundwater modeling, Columbia, S.C.; Glenn Harrison, environmental economics, Columbia, S.C.; Ronald Falta, environmental engineering/geology, Clemson, S.C.; and Myron A. Mehlman, toxicology, Princeton, N.J.

Defendant's expert witnesses included H. James Reisinger, environmental engineering, Marietta, Ga.; Elizabeth Anderson, risk assessment, Alexandria, Va.; Douglas Brown, property appraisal, Columbia, S.C.; William H. Devouges, environmental damages, Durham, N.C.; and Warren Rogers, corrosion/statistics/industry practices, Middletown, R.I.

Plaintiffs' Counsel

*C. Alan Runyan,

*Lee D. Cope, and

*Bud Fairey, all of Hampton, S.C.

* Charles H. Williams, Orangeburg, S.C.

Documents in this case are available through the Court Document Sets section in the back of this issue, courtesy of Mr. Fairey.