ELR Citation: ELR 21068
No(s). CV-S-91-760 DFL GGH (E.D. Cal. Aug 16, 1993)

The court orders past and present owners of dry cleaning stores to participate in the investigation, monitoring, and testing of hazardous substance contamination at a California shopping center. In a prior opinion, the court had held the defendants liable under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act for hazardous substance discharges at the shopping center. The court orders the defendants to hire a site project manager and prepare a workplan for environmental investigation, monitoring, and testing of perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, 1-2 dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride emanating from the shopping center. The court orders the defendants to conduct a remedial investigation, risk assessment, treatability study, and feasibility study, and prepare letter reports and a proposed remedial action plan, consistent with the national contingency plan and as specified in the workplan. The court directs that the plaintiff may observe, inspect, and review the defendants' investigation, monitoring, and testing and may comment on the draft workplan, draft remedial investigation report, draft risk assessment report, draft treatability study report, draft feasibility study report, and letter reports. The court orders the plaintiff to provide the defendants reasonable access to the shopping center. The court designates the California Regional Water Quality Control Board—Central Valley Region as the lead public agency in overseeing and reviewing the defendants' work. And the court orders the defendants to require the site project manager to obtain specified workers' compensation, employer's liability, comprehensive general liability, automobile liability, errors and omissions, and environmental impairment/pollution liability insurance.

[The court's prior opinion is published at 23 ELR 20665.]

Counsel for Plaintiff
J. Martin Robertson, Louis Green
Ware & Freidenrich
400 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto CA 94301
(415) 328-6561

Robert C. Goodman Jr.
Kaufman & Canoles
One Commercial Pl.
P.O. Box 3037, Norfolk VA 23514
(804) 624-3000

Counsel for Defendants
David Frank
Trainor, Robertson, Smits & Wade
701 University Ave., Ste. 200, Sacramento CA 95825
(916) 929-7000