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Boyd v. Allied Signal12/30/2004
This is an appeal by various defendants, contesting the trial court's decision to certify the issue of liability in a class action arising from an alleged mass tort. For the reasons expressed below, we reverse and amend the trial court's judgment in part only with regard to the recognition of one class representative, but otherwise affirm the judgment.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On August 2, 1999, at approximately noon, a tractor-trailer unit transporting boron trifluoride (BF sub3 ) gas on Interstate Highway 12 (I-12) entered East Baton Rouge Parish from Livingston Parish. The BF sub3 was manufactured by AlliedSignal, Inc. (since acquired by Honeywell International, Inc.), and was being transported by Quality Carriers, Inc. (Quality) as a compressed gas in a tube trailer with six separate, manifolded tubes. A leak noticeable to following traffic had developed from one of the trailer's tubes as the unit was traveling in the vicinity of Denham Springs in Livingston Parish. After the unit entered the corporate limits of Baton Rouge, the driver discovered the leak, and he stopped the unit on the westbound shoulder near I-12's overpass for Cedarcrest Avenue.
The leak originated from the bull plug of Tube No. 5. The first fire truck on the scene was dispatched at 12:23 p.m., and arrived at 12:34 p.m. Its crew was instructed to direct the water spray of 200 gallons per minute from its manual monitor into the visible vapor cloud originating from the trailer. Approximately two hours after its arrival, the first fire truck overheated, and was replaced with another truck using a fixed monitor applying water at a rate estimated variously to be from 750 to 1,000 gallons per minute. That first fixed monitor was later joined by a second, and by 4:14 p.m., a third fixed monitor was also in use.
Because the leak could not be stopped due to the location of the hole and the interior pressure of the tube at issue, it was decided to undertake a "scrubbing" operation, by which the remaining BF sub3 in the tube would be vented through a tote tank containing water into which the gas would be dissolved. By 10:32 p.m., it was determined that the initial attempt to "scrub" the remaining BF sub3 was unsuccessful, so a second tube trailer was sent by AlliedSignal, Inc., into which most of the remaining gas was offloaded through a step-down pressure equalization process. After the interior pressure of the leaking tube reached 150 pounds per square inch, the second tube trailer was moved at 2:45 a.m. on August 3, and the remaining gas "scrubbed" into the tote tank. The leaking cylinder was finally patched at 5:24 a.m. The "all clear" signal was issued at 6:15 a.m., and I-12 was completely re-opened for traffic at 7:05 a.m. AlliedSignal, Inc.'s records showed that the tube trailer contained 17,740 pounds of BF sub3 prior to the release, and that the total amount released was 775 pounds.
A "shelter in place" plan was established during the incident for a 1/4 mile radius from the intersection of I-12 and Cedarcrest Avenue, and the eleven homes nearest the leak were evacuated. Over 100 emergency response workers from various agencies were assigned to the incident scene.
The first petition to be filed in these consolidated actions was filed on August 3, 1999, at 9:19 a.m., about three hours after the "all clear" signal was given. It was styled as a "Class Action Petition for Damages," and named only AlliedSignal, Inc., as defendant. A second action seeking damages on behalf of a class of potential claimants was filed on August 17, 1999. Two more class action petitions were filed on August 1, 2000 and February 6, 2002. Additionally, by September 5, 2000, at l
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