City of Merced, et al v. R A Fields Inc, et al

Filing 1823

ORDER REQUIRING PLAINTIFF TO FILE STATUS REPORT, signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 02/06/2024. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file a status report no later than February 16, 2024, providing (1) the status of the remaining site closure; (2) specific information about the plans to bring this matter to a close; and (3) an updated timeframe within which the parties plan to bring this matter to a close. (Nguyen, J)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CITY OF MERCED,
Plaintiff,

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Case No. 1:92-cv-05627-NONE-SAB
ORDER REQUIRING PLAINTIFF TO FILE
STATUS REPORT

v.
R A FIELDS INC., et al.,

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Defendants.

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Plaintiff City of Merced (“Plaintiff”) initiated this action on September 15, 1992, for

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recovery of costs of remediation and removal of ground water contamination. (ECF No. 1.) On

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April 27, 2000, an injunction was entered by then-assigned District Judge Robert E. Coyle

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ordering Plaintiff to implement a cleanup program. (ECF No. 1513.) Therein, Plaintiff was

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ordered to submit progress reports with respect to the cleanup on a quarterly basis. (Id.)

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On January 29, 2009, then-assigned District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill required Plaintiff

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“to file a status report no later than January 20, 2010, and every 12 months thereafter until this

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action is resolved.” (ECF No. 1797.) Since the January 10, 2010 order, Plaintiff has filed a status

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report annually; however, there has been no consistency on the date in which it is filed.

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(Compare ECF No. 1799 (status report filed on January 15, 2010) with ECF No. 1806 (status

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report filed on March 18, 2014).)

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On March 2, 2017, Judge O’Neill issued a minute order noting that the annual status
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report (ECF No. 1811), “like numerous ones before it, provides only the most basic information

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about the progress of cleanup and fails to estimate when the site closures required by this Court's

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Cleanup Injunction, entered April 27, 2000, more than sixteen years ago, are likely to occur.”

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(ECF No. 1812.) The parties were directed to file a supplemental status report which provided

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“specific information about the Parties’ plans to bring this matter to a close and the timeframe

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within which they plan to do so.” (Id.) Following the parties’ supplemental briefing wherein

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Plaintiff estimated it make take an additional 10 to 20 years to clean up the remaining site, Judge

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O’Neill issued a minute order on March 2, 2017 noting that “[i]n light of the representation…that

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cleanup will take many additional years to complete, the parties are directed to resume the pre-

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existing status report schedule. This case shall remain CLOSED….” (ECF No. 1815.)

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Since 2017, Plaintiff has filed an annual status report on inconsistent dates in either

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January or February. Plaintiff last filed a status report on February 2, 2023. (ECF No. 1822

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(noting it was Plaintiff’s “46th report to the Court”).) The 2023 status report contained basic

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information and lacked an updated estimate regarding the remaining site closure, summarily

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stating “this Court will be advised of site closures to determine compliance and discharge of the

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injunction.” (Id. at 3.) Given it has been over one year since Plaintiff last filed a status report

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and five years since the Court was provided an updated timeframe within which the parties plan

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to bring this matter to a close, the Court shall order Plaintiff to file the required annual status

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report in compliance with the Court’s January 20, 2009 order.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file a status report no later

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than February 16, 2024, providing (1) the status of the remaining site closure; (2) specific

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information about the plans to bring this matter to a close; and (3) an updated timeframe within

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which the parties plan to bring this matter to a close.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

February 6, 2024
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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