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Appeals Court Tosses Judgment In Pollution Case

The Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has given new life to a lawsuit in which a farm company sought damages from several chemical companies for polluting irrigation wells in Arkansas.

A federal judge granted summary judgment in the suit filed by Harry Stephens Farms Inc. against Wormald Americas Inc., Helena Chemical Company Inc., and Exxon Mobil Corp. The judge found that the state's three-year statute of limitations had passed and it was too late for Stephens to sue.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled Friday that the clock would start running on the statute of limitations from the time that the plaintiff knows that its land had been harmed.

The panel found that "a genuine issue remains as to whether plaintiffs knew or reasonably should have known before June 9, 2003, that their property had suffered a remediable injury as a result of defendants' actions on neighboring property."

A consultant's report submitted to a state agency in 2001 indicated that Stephens had been notified of the contamination of his irrigation wells but the judges wrote that no evidence was introduced that shows Stephens indeed had been notified.

The judges also noted that two witnesses for the chemical companies stated in affidavits that Stephens spoke to them in 2002 and was aware of the contamination. However, Stephens' testimony in a deposition contradicted those statements.

"Thus, we conclude that there remains a genuine issue of material fact, which cannot be resolved without making credibility determinations, weighing evidence, and drawing inferences," the judges wrote, saying those judgments should be made by a jury.

The panel reversed the summary judgment and sent the case back to U.S. District Court.