United States Ninth Circuit

In a suit arising out of the sale of a property containing a disused mercury mine, alleging negligence, contribution, breach of contract and fraud as a result of an alleged oral warranty that certain rock at the mine was free of mercury, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the state statute of repose did not render the negligence claim time-barred, because provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act amending state statute of limitations rules also applied to statutes of repose; 2) the contribution claim could not be brought without remedial action having been initiated by a state environmental agency; 3) the parol evidence rule was properly applied to find that the parties had reduced their entire agreement to writing and that no binding oral warranty existed; and 4) plaintiffs did not produce evidence of the alleged falsity of statements made by defendant.

Appellate Information

• Argued 07/10/2007
• Decided 11/19/2008
• Published 11/19/2008

Judges

• STROM, District Judge:, Before:  HARRY PREGERSON and STEPHEN REINHARDT, Circuit Judges, and LYLE E. STROM, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Brooks Foster (argued) and Brian D. Chenoweth, Chenoweth Law Group, Portland, OR, for the plaintiffs-appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Harold L. Segall (argued), James T. Esselman and Leah A. Dundon, Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., Washington, District of Columbia, for the defendants-appellees.