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Hedgepath v. American Telephone and Telegraph Company12/10/2001
Heard November 7, 2001
AFFIRMED AS ADDRESSED
These are environmental pollution cases. The primary issue on appeal in each case is the application of the statute of limitations. Based upon the statute, the trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants in the Banyard case. The court denied AT&T;Nassau Metals Corporation's ("Nassau") motion for summary judgment in Hedgepath and Sharpe. Cross appeals were filed. We affirm the decision of the trial court in Banyard. However, we decline to rule whether the trial court properly denied summary judgment in the Hedgepath and Sharpe cases.
THE BANYARD APPEAL
I. Background of the Case
In July 1985, 271 individuals living in the Gaston and Swansea areas of South Carolina instituted several actions in state court claiming personal injury , property damage, and nuisance allegedly caused by pollution from a secondary copper reclamation facility constructed and operated by Nassau. These actions were commonly referred to as the Baughman litigation. See Baughman v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 306 S.C. 101, 410 S.E.2d 537 (1991).
After approximately eight years of litigation, the parties in Baughman reached a settlement in August 1993. News of the settlement was reported by the media. Shortly thereafter, a motion to intervene in the Baughman litigation was filed by approximately 400 individuals. In the motion, the prospective intervenors asserted they also lived in the area near the reclamation facility and had claims similar to the Baughman plaintiffs. The motion stated, in part, as follows:
Intervenor Plaintiffs believed until September 1, 1993 and September 2, 1993, that they were included in this action in a manner that the instant cases protected their interests and injuries and reasonably relied upon that belief.
The prospective intervenors submitted verified affidavits in support of the motion to intervene. Each affidavit was identical and contained the following statements:
A Petition was circulated protesting the activities of the Defendant AT&T;at its Nassau plant in the above entitled action and I was advised that all our interests would thereby be protected regardless of whether I signed the Petition.
I believed that my interests were protected in this action until September 1, 1993, when my counsel I retained on that date advised me that my interests were not going to be protected despite my belief to the contrary and my reliance on that belief.
A hearing was held in state court on the motion to intervene and the motion was denied.
In September 1993, the Banyard plaintiffs instituted an action in federal court against Nassau and the Gaston Copper Recycling Corporation ("Gaston Copper"). In October 1996, an order was issued by the federal district court, which granted the defendants' motions to dismiss all federal claims and dismissed the pendent state claims without prejudice.
As a result of the federal court dismissal, the Banyard plaintiffs filed an action in state court in November 1996. The complaint alleged causes of action for negligence, trespass, nuisance, and strict liability. Nassau and Gaston Copper filed answers denying the material allegations of the complaint and asserting the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense. A complex case order was entered and a case management order held the initial proceedings would be limited to a determination of whether the plaintiffs' claims were barred by the statute of limitations.
Following a discovery period, Nassau and Gaston Copper filed motions for summary judgment on the statute of limitations def
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