United States Second Circuit

Judgment awarding plaintiffs $104.69 million and finding defendants liable under New York tort law for contaminating city owned wells in Queens by its release of the chemical MTBE, which defendants used as a gasoline additive from the mid-1980s through the mid-2000s, is affirmed, where: 1) the state law tort verdict against defendants is not preempted by the federal Clean Air Act; 2) the jury's finding that the MTBE levels in Station Six Wells will peak at 10 ppb in 2033 is not inconsistent with a conclusion that the plaintiffs have been injured; 3) plaintiffs' suit was ripe because they demonstrated a present injury; 4) plaintiffs' suit was not barred by the statute of limitations; 5) the jury’s verdict finding defendants liable under state tort law theories is not precluded by the jury's concurrent conclusion that plaintiffs had not carried their burden, in the design-defect context, of demonstrating a feasible, cost-reasonable alternative to MTBE available to satisfy the standards of the now repealed Reformulated Gasoline Program; 6) defendants' demand for a retrial because of an incident of juror misconduct is unavailing; 7) the jury properly offset the gross damages award by amounts it reasonably attributed to cleanup of contaminants other than MTBE; and 8) plaintiffs were not entitled to a jury determination of defendants' liability for punitive damages.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/26/2013
• Published 07/26/2013

Judges

• CARNEY

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel