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Appellate Court Issues Victory For Water Suppliers
By Alfred E. Smith, II
The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, recently affirmed the trial court's dismissal of a coordinated set of cases seeking damages against water purveyors. The litigation involved claims by hundreds of Plaintiffs seeking damages on the basis that they allegedly ingested contaminated water. The defendants were private water suppliers regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and public entity water purveyors.
The case has a long and complex history. In 2002, the California Supreme Court held that Public Utilities Code section 1759 barred actions for damages against water purveyors regulated by the PUC, where those actions challenged the adequacy of drinking water standards or sought damages for exposure to water that met applicable regulatory standards. (Hartwell v. Superior Court (2002) 27 Cal.4th 256 (Hartwell)). Acknowledging the PUC's longstanding history of regulating privately owned utilities, the Supreme Court reasoned that the courts lacked jurisdiction over such claims, unless it is alleged that the PUC-regulated entities failed to meet applicable state or federal water standards.
After the Supreme Court's decision, the matter was remanded to the trial court. The trial court once again dismissed the Plaintiffs' claims. The Plaintiffs appealed, arguing that the trial court adopted overly narrow definitions of the terms "federal and state drinking water standards" and "violations." Among other things, the Plaintiffs sought to have broad, qualitative terms such as "wholesome and in no way harmful" serve as the applicable standards.
[FULL STORY]
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