Morristown Associates v. Grant Oil Co. The Spill Act Contribution Claims are not subject to a 6 Year Statute of Limitations.
Court: Supreme Court of New Jersey
Docket: a-38-13 |
Opinion Date:
January 26, 2015
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Areas of Law: Energy, Oil & Gas Law, Environmental Law, Real Estate & Property Law |
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In 1979, plaintiff Morristown Associates purchased commercial
property located in Morristown. The property contained a strip-mall-style
shopping center known as Morristown Plaza. Among the tenants was Plaza
Cleaners, a dry cleaning business owned at the time by Robert Herring. Herring
and his wife had entered into a lease with the property's previous owner,
Morris Center Associates, in 1976.
Due to construction, Herring was unable to
occupy and operate Plaza Cleaners until 1978. At some point before moving in,
Herring installed a steam boiler in a room at the rear of the leased space and
an underground storage tank (UST) for fuel to operate the boiler. In 1985,
Herring sold Plaza Cleaners to defendants Edward and Amy Hsi. The Hsis owned
the business until 1998 when it was sold to current owner and third-party
defendant, Byung Lee.
In August 2003, a monitoring of a well installed near
Plaza Cleaner's UST revealed fuel oil contamination. A subsequent investigation
revealed that although the UST was intact, the fill and vent pipes were
severely deteriorated, with large holes along a significant portion of their
lengths.
Plaintiff's experts concluded that those holes had developed as early
as 1988 and, since that time, oil had been leaking from the pipes each time the
tank was filled.
Each of the named oil company defendants in this case
allegedly supplied fuel oil to Plaza Cleaners at various times between 1988 and
2003.
The issue in this appeal was whether the general six-year statute of
limitations contained in N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 applied to private claims for
contribution made pursuant to the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control
Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11f(a)(2)(a).
Based on the plain language of the Spill
Act, reinforced by its legislative history, the New Jersey Supreme Court held
that N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 s six-year statute of limitations was not applicable to
Spill Act contribution claims.
The Court therefore rejected the contrary
determination of the Appellate Division and reversed and remanded this case to
the Appellate Division for its consideration of other issues raised on appeal
that were unaddressed.