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Last modified
8/24/2016 7:44:47 PM
Creation date
11/21/2007 2:29:07 PM
Metadata
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Template:
DRMS Permit Index
Permit No
C1981013
IBM Index Class Name
Enforcement
Doc Date
4/19/2001
Doc Name
PREHEARING BRIEF OF BASIN RESOURCES INC
Violation No.
CV2000009
Media Type
D
Archive
No
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<br />653 N.E.2d 89 <br />(Cite as: 653 N.E.2d 89, *92) <br />when measuring damages to land from environmental <br />contamination. Land subject to hazardous waste or <br />PCB contamination is required to be remediated <br />virtually without regard to cost. See, e.g., Slate of <br />Ohio v. U.S. Dept. of Inferior (D.C.Cir.1989), 880 <br />F.2d 432, 446 (under CERCLA, preference is for <br />restoration cost as measure of damage to natural <br />resources, at least-where restoration is feasible and <br />can be perfomred at a cost not grossly <br />disproportionate to use value of resource). PCB <br />contamination, therefore, will generally be considered <br />a temporary injury capable of being remediated or <br />"repaired." <br />Nevertheless, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has <br />recognized that the traditional distinction between <br />temporary and permanent injury to real property is ill- <br />suited for determining damages in the context of <br />environmental contamination. In In re Paoli R.R. <br />Yard Litigation (3rd Cir.1994), 35 F.3d 717, the <br />federal court of appeals [FN4] reversed the district <br />court's deternination that the plaintiffs were not <br />entitled to damages for diminution in value because <br />PCB contamination of their property was "temporary <br />and remediable." Id. at 795. The court held that a <br />factual question existed as to whether the injury to the <br />plaintiffs' land was temporary or permanent. Id. at <br />796. The tour reasoned that, although the plaintiffs <br />may not have presented evidence of permanent <br />"physical" damage, they did present expert evidence <br />that the PCB contamination had not been completely <br />remediated and that "the stigma of living oo property <br />which once contained significant amounts of PCBs" <br />constituted "permanent, irremediable damage to <br />property...." /d. at 796-97 (emphasis added). <br />FN4. The federal district court opinion in /n re <br />Paoli, upon which the trial court relied, was <br />reversed after the trial tour granted summary <br />judgment for Kraft. <br />*93 The Third Circuit in In re Paoli determined it <br />was not necessary, under Pennsylvania law, "that an <br />injury to land ... be physical for it to be considered <br />permanent." Id. at 797. The court observed that the <br />[ern "permanent injury" was mean[ to apply <br />whenever repair costs would be an inappropriate <br />measure of damages. !d. (citing Wade v. S.J. Groves <br />& Sons Co. (1981), 283 Pa.Super. 464, 424 A.2d <br />902, 912). "[A]n appropriate measure of damages is <br />generally defined as what is necessary [o compensate <br />fully the plaintiff" /d. The court concluded: <br />This approach is normally consistent with the view <br />[ha[, when physical damage is temporary, only <br />Page 4 <br />repair costs are recoverable, because in a perfectly <br />functioning market, fully repaired property will <br />return [o its former value. Thus, an award of repair <br />costs will be fully compensatory.... Hence, <br />nornally, it is only when property cannot be <br />repaired that courts must award damages for <br />diminution in value in order to fully compensate <br />plaintiffs. However, the marke! sometimes jails <br />and repair costs are not jolly compensatory. In <br />such cases, ... plaintiffs should be compensated jor <br />their remaining loss. Absent such an approach, <br />plaintiffs are pernanently deprived of significant <br />value without any compensation. <br />Id. at 797-98 (emphasis added). The Third Circuit <br />then established athree-factor test which plaintiffs <br />must meet to "make out a claim for diminution of <br />value of their property without showing permanent <br />physical damage to the land." !d. at 798. Those <br />factors aze: <br />(I) defendants have caused some (temporary) <br />physical damage to plaintiffs' property; <br />(2) plaintiffs demonstrate that repair of this damage <br />will not restore the value of the property to its prior <br />level; and <br />(3) plaintiffs show that there is some ongoing risk to <br />their land. <br />/d. <br />[3] The law of damages in Indiana is consistent with <br />the Third Circuit's interpretation of Pennsylvania law <br />concerning the proper measure of damages for <br />environmental contamination. As in Pennsylvania, <br />the aim in awarding damages in Indiana is to fairly <br />and adequately compensate an injured party for his <br />loss. See Wiese-CMC, /nc. v. Wells (1993), <br />Ind.App., 626 N.E.2d 595, 597, trans. denied. In <br />discussing the appropriate measure of damages which <br />will fully compensate the plaintiff for an item of <br />personal property that is damaged but not destroyed, <br />this court has stated: <br />the fundamental measure of damages is the <br />reduction in fair market value caused by the <br />negligence of the tort feasor. This reduction in fair <br />market value may be proved in any of three ways, <br />depending on [he circumstances. First, it may be <br />proved by evidence of the fav market value before <br />and the fair market value after the causative even[. <br />Secondly, it may be proved by evidence of the cost <br />of repair where repair will restore the personal <br />property to its jair market value hejore the <br />causative event. Third, the reduction in fav market <br />value may be proved by a combination of evidence <br />Copr. ©West 2001 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works <br />
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