Knox County Local Emergency Planning Committee v. Santmyer Oil Co.6/27/2002
JUDGMENT: Affirmed in part and reversed in part
On June 13, 2000, a tanker truck owned by appellant, Santmyer Oil Company, overturned in Knox County, Ohio, spilling diesel fuel.
On November 6, 2000, appellee, Knox County Local Emergency Planning Committee, filed a complaint against appellant seeking recovery in the amount of $7,275.64 for costs incurred in responding to the incident. A bench trial commenced on September 27, 2001. By judgment entry filed October 4, 2001, the trial court found in favor of appellee in the amount of $7,190.64. The trial court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law on November 15, 2001.
Appellant filed an appeal and this matter is now before this court for consideration. Assignments of error are as follows:
I.
"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DETERMINING THAT OHIO REVISED CODE SECTION 3745.13 ALLOWS FOR THE RECOVERY OF MONEY BASED UPON STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES DEVELOPED BY A LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ABSENT A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GUIDELINES AND THE ENTITY'S ACTUAL COSTS INCURRED IN RESPONDING TO THE UNAUTHORIZED ENVIRONMENTAL SPILL."
II.
"THE FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW SET FORTH BY THE TRIAL COURT IN ITS ORDER FILED FOR RECORD ON NOVEMBER 15, 2001, DISREGARDED THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED AT TRIAL AND IMPROPERLY APPLIED OHIO REVISED CODE SECTION 3745.13."
III.
"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS AT THE CLOSE OF PLAINTIFF'S CASE IN CHIEF SINCE AT THE TIME THE MOTION WAS MADE, THE PLAINTIFF HAD FAILED TO MEET ITS BURDEN OF PROOF."
I, II, III
The assignments of error challenge the evidence as being insufficient and contrary to the controlling statute. Appellant claims the evidence was insufficient to establish the "costs" expended by appellee for the environmental spill, and the trial court should have granted its motion to dismiss based upon a failure of proof.
The controlling statute is R.C. 3745.13 which states in pertinent part the following:
"When emergency action is required to protect the public health or safety or the environment, any person responsible for causing or allowing an unauthorized spill, release, or discharge of material into or upon the environment is liable to the municipal corporation, county, township, countywide emergency management agency established under section 5502.26 of the Revised Code, *for the necessary and reasonable, additional or extraordinary costs it incurs in investigating, mitigating, minimizing, removing, or abating the spill, release, or discharge in the course of its emergency action *. The officers of the municipal corporation, county, township, countywide emergency management agency, or regional authority for emergency management performing the emergency action shall keep a detailed record of its costs for investigating, mitigating, minimizing, removing, or abating the unauthorized spill, release, discharge; promptly after the completion of those measures, shall certify those costs to the city director of law or village solicitor, as appropriate, of the municipal corporation, the prosecuting attorney of the county in the case of a county, township, or countywide emergency management agency, or the legal counsel retained thereby in the case of a regional authority for emergency management *. The legal officer or counsel shall submit a written, itemized claim for the total certified costs incurred by the municipal corporation, county, township, countywide agency, or regional authority for the emergency action to the responsible party and a written demand that those costs be
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