 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Chrysler Outboard Corp.6/19/1998
ON CERTIFICATION FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS
Opinion Filed: June 19, 1998 Submitted on Briefs: Oral Argument: December 3, 1997
Source of APPEAL
COURT: Circuit COUNTY: Waukesha JUDGE: Patrick L. Snyder
JUSTICES: Concurred: Bablitch, J.
(concurs in part/Dissents in part) (opinion filed) Geske, J., (concurs in part/Dissents in part) (opinion filed) Abrahamson, C.J. and Bradley, J., join dissented: Not Participating:
FILED JUN 19, 1998
Marilyn L. Graves
Clerk of Supreme Court
Madison, WI
APPEAL from an order of the Circuit Court for Waukesha County, Patrick L. Snyder, Judge. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
. This case is before the court on certification from the court of appeals following an order of the Circuit Court for Waukesha County, Patrick L. Snyder, Judge, which dismissed the appellant State of Wisconsin's (State) environmental enforcement action pursuant to Wis. Admin. Code Sections RD 51.05-.06 (1969) (Solid Waste Law) for failure to commence the action within the applicable statute of limitations. The circuit court also held that the State could not impose liability upon the respondent Chrysler Outboard Corporation (Chrysler) pursuant to Wis. Stat. Section 144.76(3) (1977) (Spills Law) because Chrysler caused the hazardous substance spill at issue prior to the effective date of the Spills Law. The State appealed.
. On certification, we consider two issues: (1) whether the State's Solid Waste Law violation enforcement action is subject to a statute of limitations bar or to the application of the "discovery rule"; and (2) whether Wis. Stat. Section 144.76(3) (1977) is applicable to post-1978 discharges resulting in part from pre-1978 acts when the implicated party does not own or possess the affected property but generated the wastes and failed to remediate their subsequent spillage. We hold that the discovery rule is not applicable to the State's environmental enforcement action under the Solid Waste Law, and that the Spills Law is applicable in actions by the State to compel remediation of, and to impose penalties for, hazardous substance spills which, although initially caused in part by actions preceding the statute's May 21, 1978, effective date, continue to discharge after that date. Therefore, we affirm the order of the circuit court dismissing the State's action pursuant to the Solid Waste Law as time-barred, and reverse the circuit court's order which dismissed the State's action under the Spills Law.
. The facts relevant to our decision are not in dispute. Chrysler, a foreign corporation registered to do business in the state of Wisconsin, owned and operated a plant in Hartford, Wisconsin, from 1965 to 1984 where it manufactured outboard marine engines. The manufacturing process generated waste paints, oils, and solvents, some of which contained hazardous substances as defined by Wis. Stat. Section 144.30(10) (1977).
. For approximately the first six months of 1970, Chrysler contracted with a construction and demolition business known as Keller Transit to remove the waste, contained in 55-gallon drums, from the Hartford plant for disposal. Keller Transit hauled the waste to a site located in the Village of Hartland, then owned by Mr. Lee Hasslinger, president of Keller Transit, and now owned by a real estate partnership named Bark River Properties (Bark River site). Keller Transit dumped the drums together with other rubbish in a low spot at the Bark River site, and covered the area with fill. The drums remained buried there until they were discovered in late 1992.
. On August 25,
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|