State of New Mexico v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

Filing 707

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by Chief District Judge William P. Johnson. denying as moot SUNNYSIDE GOLD CORPORATION'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON GROUNDS OF LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION (597 in 1:16-cv-00465-WJ-LF, 868 in 1:18-md-02824-WJ, 226 in 1:18-cv-00744-WJ-KK, 489 in 1:18-cv-00319-WJ, 393 in 1:16-cv-00931-WJ-LF) (meq)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
IN RE: GOLD KING MINE RELEASE
IN SAN JUAN COUNTY, COLORADO,
ON AUGUST 5, 2015
This Document Relates to:

No. 1:18-md-02824-WJ

No. 1:16-cv-00465-WJ-LF
No. 1:16-cv-00931-WJ-LF
No. 1:18-cv-00319-WJ
No. 1:18-cv-00744-WJ-KK

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
DENYING SUNNYSIDE GOLD CORPORATION'S MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON GROUNDS OF LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION
AS MOOT
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Sunnyside Gold Corporation’s ("Sunnyside")
Motion for Summary Judgment on Grounds of Lack of Personal Jurisdiction, Doc. 868, filed
October 13, 2020 (“Motion”).
The following Plaintiffs have asserted claims against Sunnyside: (i) State of New Mexico;
(ii) the Navajo Nation; (iii) the State of Utah; and (iv) the Allen Plaintiffs.
Sunnyside has withdrawn its Motion as to New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and Utah
because it has reached an agreement with those Plaintiffs. See Doc. 1005, filed January 8, 2021
(withdrawing Motion as to New Mexico and the Navajo Nation); Doc. 1139, filed March 15, 2021
(withdrawing Motion as to Utah).
The Allen Plaintiffs have asserted the following claims against Sunnyside: (i) negligence
and negligence per se; (ii) gross negligence; (iii) trespass; and (iv) private nuisance. See Allen
Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint at 112, 116, 117, 119, Doc. 445, filed January 21, 2020.
The Court granted Sunnyside's motion for summary judgment on the Allen Plaintiffs' claims
pursuant to the State of Colorado's statute of repose which bars "any and all actions in tort ...or
other actions for the recovery of damages" related to deficiencies in the design, planning and

construction of improvements to real property not brought within six years after substantial
completion of the improvement. See Mem. Op. and Order Granting Sunnyside Gold Corporation's
Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Statute of Repose Grounds, Doc. 1156, filed March 31,
2021 (finding that the bulkheads planned, designed and constructed by Sunnyside were
improvements to real property).
The Court denies Sunnyside's Motion for Summary Judgment on Grounds of Lack of
Personal Jurisdiction as moot because Sunnyside has withdrawn the Motion as to New Mexico,
the Navajo Nation and Utah, and because the Allen Plaintiffs' claims against Sunnyside are barred
by Colorado's statute of repose.
Defendants United States of America, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
("EPA"), and the EPA Administrator (collectively "Federal Defendants") have asserted
crossclaims against Sunnyside pursuant to CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601, et seq. See Answer and
Cross-Claims of the Federal Defendants to the Navajo Nation's First Amended Complaint at 49,
Doc. 192, filed July 1, 2019 ; Answer and Cross-Claims of the Federal Defendants to the State of
New Mexico's First Amended Complaint at 46, Doc. 195, filed July 1, 2019; Federal Defendants'
Answer to First Amended Complaint of the State of Utah and Crossclaim at 28, Doc. 200-1, filed
July 1, 2019. The Federal Defendants did not file a response opposing Sunnyside's Motion for
Summary Judgment on Grounds of Lack of Personal Jurisdiction presumably because Sunnyside's
Motion was directed solely towards the Plaintiffs New Mexico, the Navajo Nation, Utah, and the
Allen Plaintiffs.

See Motion at 1 (stating "the Plaintiffs have failed to produce evidence

demonstrating that [Sunnyside] is subject to either general or specific personal jurisdiction in New
Mexico"). The Court declines to rule on whether it has personal jurisdiction over Sunnyside until
the Federal Defendants and any other Parties asserting crossclaims against Sunnyside have had an

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opportunity to respond. See Alejandre-Gallegos v. Holder, 598 Fed.Appx. 604, 605 (10th Cir.
2015) ("In our adversarial system, neutral and busy courts rely on lawyers to develop and present
in an intelligible format the facts and law to support their arguments and the adversarial process
cannot properly function when one party ignores its obligations under the rules”). Sunnyside may
file another motion regarding personal jurisdiction directed towards the Federal Defendants and
any other Parties that have asserted crossclaims.
IT IS ORDERED that Sunnyside Gold Corporation’s Motion for Summary Judgment on
Grounds of Lack of Personal Jurisdiction, Doc. 868, filed October 13, 2020, is DENIED as moot.

________________________________________
WILLIAM P. JOHNSON
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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