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Donaldson v. Central Illinois Public Service Co.

Case Date: 05/10/2000
Court: 5th District Appellate
Docket No: 5-98-0692

Donaldson v. CIPS, No. 5-98-0692

5th District, 10 May 2000

ZACHARY DONALDSON et al.,

Plaintiffs-Appellees and Cross-Appellants,

v.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY,

Defendant-Appellant and Cross-Appellee,

HANSON ENGINEERS, INC., and PARSONS ENGINEERING SCIENCE, INC.,

Defendants-Cross-Appellees.

Appeal from the CircuitCourt of ChristianCounty.

No. 96-L-20

Honorable Mark M. Joy,Judge, presiding.

JUSTICE KUEHN delivered the opinion of the court:

Four Taylorville, Illinois, families filed suit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for negligence and nuisance fromCentral Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS), Hanson Engineers, Inc. (Hanson), Parsons Engineering Science, Inc.(Parsons ES), and Haztech, Inc., relative to remediation of a particular area located in Taylorville (Site) that formerly was agas manufacturing plant. All four families had a child afflicted with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the peripheral nervoussystem. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the four families against CIPS alone. From this verdict, upon which the trialcourt entered judgment, CIPS appeals. The four families (plaintiffs) conditionally cross-appeal. We affirm.

FACTS

I. History of the Site and Remediation

The history of this case begins back in 1892 when a gas manufacturing plant began producing gas at the Site. CIPSpurchased the plant in 1912 and continued to produce gas until 1932. The plant was dismantled in 1939, which involved thedestruction of the above-ground structures, but a large underground tank and other containers were left buried at the Site.CIPS sold the Site in 1961. In the mid-1980s, the Site was owned by Apple Contractors.

The gasification process used at this particular plant produced tar byproducts, which were commercially beneficial and usedfor numerous purposes. The byproduct was commonly referred to as coal tar. The specific type produced at the Site wascarburetted water gas tar.

In 1980, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Actof 1980, commonly known as CERCLA, which imposed retroactive liability for the disposal of hazardous waste. 42 U.S.C.