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Lockheed v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County3/3/2003
In this action for medical monitoring of the residents of a geographic area affected by defendants' toxic chemical discharge, the question before us is whether plaintiffs, in moving for class certification, have met their burden of demonstrating that common issues of law and fact predominate. We conclude they have not. We therefore affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Background
Plaintiffs Roslyn Carrillo et alia allege that defendants Lockheed Martin Corporation et alia, in the course of conducting manufacturing operations in the City of Redlands, beginning in 1954, discharged dangerous chemicals that contaminated the city's drinking water with harmful toxins and that this contaminated water was used by a large portion of the city's residents. In December 1996, on behalf of themselves and persons similarly situated, plaintiffs filed this action in the San Bernardino County Superior Court. Plaintiffs pray that the court order defendants to fund a court-supervised program for the medical monitoring of class members, and for punitive damages.
Plaintiffs moved for certification of a "medical monitoring" class and a "punitive damage" class, defined identically as "People who were exposed to water contaminated with any of the following chemicals: TCE, PCE, TCA, other solvents, Ammonium Perchlorate, Perchlorate, other unknown rocket fuel components and rocket fuel decomposition products, Beryllium, Carbon Tetrachloride, Vinyl Chloride, Hydrazine (and Hydrazine derivatives), Nitrosamines (and Nitrosamine derivatives), Epoxides (and Epoxide derivatives), Triazines (and Triazine derivatives), at levels at or in excess of the dose equivalent of the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level),[ ] or in excess of the safe dose where there is no MCL, for some part of a day, for greater than 50% of a year, for one or more years from 1955 to the present" within specified geographical limits. (Fns. omitted.) Plaintiffs' class definition indicated that review of relevant water quality documents was ongoing and that the definition would be amended if additional chemicals were identified.
One of plaintiffs' attorneys declared that estimating the number of persons in the class was difficult, because the University of Redlands is located within the specified geographic boundaries, and persons residing, working or studying within the defined area may qualify as class members. The attorney's best estimate was that the class includes between 50,000 and 100,000 people.
The trial court certified the classes, finding that plaintiffs had met their burden of proof under Code of Civil Procedure section 382: "The Court finds that the plaintiffs have a realistic chance of success on the merits. [ ] Specifically, the Court finds that the plaintiffs have shown that there is a realistic chance that the defendants caused contaminants to be leaked into the water table beneath Redlands and that this contaminated water was served to the members of the proposed class." The court also found that there is an ascertainable class, concluding it was "not necessary to determine the levels of toxins received by each plaintiff at this time and that the geographic limits placed on the class are reasonable and related to the alleged contamination." The court concluded, finally, that members of the class have a well-defined community of interest and that common questions of law and fact predominate in the action.
Parties objecting to certification filed three writ petitions in the Court of Appeal, which that court consolidated. Opining that individual issues raised by plaintiffs' claims "clearly predominate, making class certification inappropriate," the Court of Appeal granted a writ of mand
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