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City of Chicago v. Latronica Asphalt & Grading, Inc.

Case Date: 02/17/2004
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-02-2524 Rel

FIRST DIVISION
February 17, 2004



No. 1-02-2524

 
THE CITY OF CHICAGO, a Municipal
Corporation,

          Plaintiff-Appellant,

          v.

LATRONICA ASPHALT and GRADING, INC., an
Illinois Corporation,

          Defendant-Appellee.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County


01 CH 14595



Hon. Gay-Lloyd Lott,
Judge Presiding.


JUSTICE McBRIDE delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff-appellant, City of Chicago (City), filed a complaintagainst defendant-appellee, Latronica Asphalt & Grading, Inc.(Latronica), which sought damages in connection with the City'scleanup of illegal waste disposed of on a lot in the City ofChicago (the Site). Latronica filed a motion to dismiss whichsought to strike the complaint on the ground that the allegeddumping by Latronica occurred more than five years prior to thefiling of the complaint and the claim was therefore barred by thestatute of limitations. The trial court subsequently denied theCity's motion to reconider. The trial court granted Latronica's motion. The City appeals from those rulings.

We state the following background facts. On September 4,2001, the City filed a four-count complaint against Latronica whichalleged unpermitted disposal of waste (count I), statutory publicnuisance (count II), common law public nuisance (count III), andrecovery of costs (count IV). Specifically, the complaint allegedthat the City obtained ownership of the Site as of December 30,1999, and that prior to that time, the Site was owned by a trustand was operated by several individuals including John Christopher,a federal government informant in "Operation Silver Shovel," apublic corruption investigation conducted by the United StatesAttorney. During the period of Christopher's ownership andcontrol, the Site was operated by Marlboro, Inc., a company ownedby Christopher. At no time was a permit ever issued by the Citymaking the Site a permitted dump site.

According to "load tickets" and "invoices" produced byMarlboro, the complaint alleged, Latronica disposed of constructiondebris and other waste on the Site "(including asphalt, concrete,dirt, and mixed materials) from Latronica job sites during theperiod of at least August 4, 1992, through at least September 2,1993." Over this period, the City alleged that Latronica disposedof at least 2,498 cubic yards of construction debris and otherwaste at the Site. It further claimed that Latronica's disposal ofwaste on the Site contributed to a massive buildup of illegal wastethere.

The complaint alleged that the City had begun cleanup at theSite which would require the removal of approximately 663,500 cubicyards of waste at the estimated total cost of nearly $24 million. The City claimed that the illegal waste disposed of at the Siteconstituted a common law and statutory public nuisance, and athreat to the "public health, safety, welfare, and theenvironment." In count I, the complaint specifically alleged that"mounds of waste [from the Site] caused dust, dirt, and othermaterials to become airborne and to spread to the nearbycommunity." The City claimed that the illegal dumping by Latronicaviolated section 11-4-1500 of the Chicago Municipal Code. ChicagoMunicipal Code