In Re: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ("MTBE") Products Liability Litigation

Filing 3626

DECLARATION of Connelly in Support re: (157 in 1:04-cv-04973-SAS) MOTION for Summary Judgment for Lack of Evidence Pertaining to Causation.. Document filed by Coastal Eagle Point Company, Coastal Chem, Inc.. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit #01, #2 Exhibit #02, #3 Exhibit #03, #4 Exhibit #04, #5 Exhibit #05, #6 Exhibit #06, #7 Exhibit #07, #8 Exhibit #08, #9 Exhibit #09, #10 Exhibit #10, #11 Exhibit #11, #12 Exhibit #12, #13 Exhibit #13, #14 Exhibit #14)Filed In Associated Cases: 1:00-cv-01898-SAS-DCF, 1:04-cv-04973-SAS(Allen, Brent)

EXHIBIT 9
Gary Singh Deposition Excerpts


Pages 9-10 and 84 from the deposition testimony of Gary Singh, taken March 22, 2011.

Deposition of Gary Singh

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March 22, 2011
Page 9

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No. 3519 that was located at 4591 East Belmont in
Fresno. Did you operate that station for a period of
time?
A. No. When I -- when I purchased that place, it
was ARCO, not the Beacon.
Q. Okay. Did you operate a station -- a gas
station at that address, 4591 East Belmont in Fresno?
A. Yeah, I am still doing it.
Q. Okay. And when did you start operating it?
A. 2001.
Q. Okay. Do you recall the month?
A. In January.
Q. Okay.
A. I think January 10th.
Q. And you have been operating it continuously -A. Yes.
Q. -- since that time?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. And do you own the station?
A. I own -- I'm not own the property, but I own
the equipment and the building and everything.
Q. Okay. And do you own the underground storage
tanks?
A. Yes.
Q. And who owns the property?

Page 11
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A. Okay.
Q. We may refer back -A. Okay.
Q. -- to exhibits we have previously looked at
during the course of the day. Have you ever had your
deposition taken before?
A. No.
Q. Okay. I am going to go over some basic ground
rules so you understand how we will proceed today.
A. Yeah.
Q. You understand that you just took an oath to
tell the truth -A. Yes.
Q. -- and your testimony here is under penalty of
perjury as if we were in a court of law.
A. Okay.
Q. Okay. It is important that the court reporter
can clearly type your testimony and any questions or
objections that are made. So even if you know what I am
going to ask you, allow me to finish my question before
you give your answer.
Do you understand that?
A. Okay. Yes.
Q. Okay. And from time to time counsel in the
room or on the phone may object to the question being

Page 10

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A. His name Melvin Armey.
MR. MASSEY: I have marked as Exhibit 1 a list
of service stations in Fresno. And I want to give it to
you and have you look at it and tell me if you have
worked at any of the other stations that are on this
list.
(Deposition Exhibit 1 marked for
identification)
THE WITNESS: That's the one we have, 319245
(sic), that's -- that's the one, we own it.
MR. MASSEY: Q. Okay.
A. Yes.
Q. And that's the third or fourth one on the list?
A. That's the third one.
Q. Okay. So the only one is the one that we are
here to talk about today?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And what do you call the station?
A. Now? ARCO Gas and Food.
Q. Okay. If I refer to it as "the station," will
you understand what I am talking about?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And for exhibits, you want to keep them
in front of you. You can just turn them over like that
and stack them.

Page 12

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asked. If you would wait until those objections are
made until you -- to give your answer, that will allow
the court reporter to make a clear record.
A. Okay.
Q. It is also important that you give verbal
responses. So if we were talking like a normal
conversation, you might nod your head to say yes or no,
but here you want to say yes or no, or otherwise give a
verbal response to questions.
Do you understand that?
A. Yes.
Q. You are doing great so far.
A. Thanks.
Q. It is also important that you understand my
questions. If you don't, just let me know and I will
restate or clarify.
A. Okay.
Q. We are entitled to your best recollection.
That includes if you have partial information, an
estimate of some type of information based on what you
know. I don't want you to guess if you have no
information.
A. Okay.
Q. I will draw the distinction this way: If I
asked you to estimate the size of this table, you could

3 (Pages 9 to 12)
DEPOBOOK REPORTING SERVICES, LLC [phone]

Deposition of Gary Singh

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March 22, 2011
Page 81

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and Groundwater Investigation dated April 6th, 2001,
Bates No. RWQCB-FRESNO-16620 through 16760.
(Deposition Exhibit 12 marked for
identification)
MR. MASSEY: You were operating the station by
April 6th, 2001; is that correct?
A. I think so, yeah.
Q. Okay.
A. I think 2001 or 2002. I think it is 2001 or
2002.
Q. Okay.
A. I am not pretty sure it was 2002 or 2001. I
have to look at the date. Okay. I am not sure it is
2001 or 2002, because it is in the paper, so -Q. Let's put this exhibit aside just for a second.
A. Okay.
Q. We are going to use it in a second. But I'll
mark as Exhibit 13 an Environmental Health Application
which is dated apparently January 9th, 2002.
A. Yeah, so that's -- that's the date we probably
purchased, 2002, then.
(Deposition Exhibit 13 marked for
identification)
MR. MASSEY: And it has got Bates number
FCDEH-FRESNO-17647.

Page 83

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the gas stations?
A. No, we were going to operate the gas station,
too, I think so, yeah. That's what we still doing since
that.
Q. Okay. And that was your -- as you recall it,
that was the intention from the very beginning?
A. Yeah, like it is.
Q. Okay. Do you recall at any point in time that
Gas-O-Mat Corporation was to remain the underground
storage tank owner as is written here?
A. I don't know. I am not sure because -whatever the paper say, so it might be this though.
Q. Okay. It is your understanding that you bought
the buildings and the underground storage tank at the
same time to start operating the businesses?
A. Yes, I think that's probably the agreement.
Yeah.
Q. All right. And then at that same time you
started leasing the property from Melvin Armey?
A. Yeah, but I am not sure who is the owner of the
underground tanks and all that because we purchased
business from Valero, so I am not sure what comes with
it, you know, so -- because before that property owner
and Valero have the lease. I don't know how the lease
there work. So --

Page 82

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Q. Have you seen this document before?
A. Yeah, that's my handwriting.
Q. Okay. Is that your signature on this document?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. And is this a true and correct copy
of the application that you filed on this date?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And it indicates at the bottom, about
three-quarters of the page down, ownership change, and
then business name change and billing address change.
Do you see that?
A. Billing address? You are talking about right
here?
Q. Little bit up a few -- like three lines up from
there.
A. Yes, this is the ownership change -- yeah,
food, gas only, yes.
Q. Okay. It says for food only; is that right?
A. For food only, yes.
Q. Okay. And then it says, "Gas-O-Mat Corp. is to
remain UST owner." Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Was there some point in your purchase of
the equipment and starting operating the site that you
were going to just operate the mini-mart and not operate

Page 84

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Q. You recall you purchased everything from
Valero -A. Valero, yeah.
Q. -- not from Gas-O-Mat?
A. Yeah.
Q. So not from Gas-O-Mat, from Valero?
A. Yeah. From Beacon or Diamond Shamrock,
whatever, no Gas-O-Mat, yes.
Q. Okay. Does this document refresh your
recollection as to the time frame of your taking over
the business?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And what time frame was that?
A. I think we take over on the 10th.
Q. Of what year?
A. 2002. Yeah, before we fill up the application
here.
Q. Okay. So let's put that aside for now and
let's look back at Exhibit 12, which we were just
looking at. And if you would turn to Figure 2, which is
Bates Page 16633.
A. 16663?
Q. 16633. This map is similar to the one that we
looked at earlier, correct?
A. Yes.

21 (Pages 81 to 84)
DEPOBOOK REPORTING SERVICES, LLC [phone]