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

Filing 3630

DECLARATION of Wedeking 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 Chem, Inc.. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit #1, #2 Exhibit #2, #3 Exhibit #3, #4 Exhibit #4, #5 Exhibit #5, #6 Exhibit #6, #7 Exhibit #7, #8 Exhibit #8, #9 Exhibit #9)Filed In Associated Cases: 1:00-cv-01898-SAS-DCF, 1:04-cv-04973-SAS(Allen, Brent)

Exhibit 5

Deposition of James Shehadey

/

March 16, 2011

Page 1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
-oOo________________________________
In re: Methyl Tertiary Butyl
Ether ("MTBE") Products
Liability Litigation
________________________________
Master File No.
1:00-1898
This Document Relates To:
Case No.
City of Fresno
MDL 1358(SAS)
v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., et al.,
Case No. 04 Civ. 4973
________________________________
DEPOSITION OF JAMES SHEHADEY
March 16, 2011 at 1:00 (1:09) p.m.
Before: ERIC L. JOHNSON
RPR, CSR #9771
Taken at:
Fresno, California

DEPOBOOK REPORTING SERVICES [phone]

Deposition of James Shehadey

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March 16, 2011

Page 17
1

the wrong term like that catch me, or if you don't

2

understand the question --

3

A.

Yeah.

4

Q.

I am sorry, is Red Triangle also known as

5

one -- is what is known as a jobber that makes

6

deliveries of gasoline to stations?

7

A.

Yes.

8

Q.

Do you recognize any of these addresses beside

9
10
11

2809 South Chestnut as an address where Red Triangle has
made deliveries to?
A.

No.

I recognize some of the addresses, but not

12

as some that were made deliveries during my period with

13

the company.

14

Q.

15

moment.

16

went on the record that in response to the subpoena that

17

there were, I am not sure the count, I think it was a

18

little over 600 pages of documents that you had gathered

19

together?

And we will get into your history in just a
Now, is it correct, you had mentioned before we

20

A.

Yes.

21

Q.

In looking at this list of documents on the

22

attachment, starting with No. 1, and it goes up through

23

No. 35 on the next few pages, were you able to gather

24

together all the documents that were still in Red

25

Triangle's possession that are requested in this list?

DEPOBOOK REPORTING SERVICES [phone]

Deposition of James Shehadey

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March 16, 2011

Page 18
1

A.

Yes.

2

Q.

And I think you described before we went on the

3

record, those were all given to the copy service here on

4

Wednesday, the day before yesterday?

5

A.

Yeah, it was -- yes.

6

Q.

I am sorry.

7

A.

Monday afternoon.

8

Q.

There we go.

9
10

yesterday.

Thank you.

Yeah.

On Monday, the day before
Today being Wednesday, I said

that backward.

11

Okay.

So we will -- we will get to those

12

documents in just a moment.

13

documents in your or the company's possession that are

14

requested here that were not given to the copy service

15

on Monday?

16
17
18

A.

No.

Were there any other

This is what we were able to find and

produce.
Q.

You can set Exhibit 1 aside, or you can -- you

19

can just leave it there in front of you if you want, and

20

we will add to the documents here.

21
22
23

Let's talk about your history for a moment.
When did you start working for Red Triangle?
A.

I started March 1st, 2002.

My family purchased

24

Red Triangle Oil Company on that date and I started

25

working on that date, March 1st, 2002.

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Deposition of James Shehadey

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as Exhibit 5, would these include records of any product

2

that was put in your aboveground storage tanks at the

3

bulk plant?

4

A.

No.

5

Q.

Are there separate records that you maintain

6

showing those type of records as to what was put in the

7

aboveground tanks at the bulk plant?

8

A.

Yes.

9

Q.

Would you still have any of those records going

10
11

back to before 2003?
A.

Probably 2003, because I think that's what we

12

still had for -- for this site.

13

MR. EICKMEYER:

14

questions at this point.

15
16

All right.

I have no further

We can go off the record.

THE VIDEOGRAPHER:

Going off the record at

4:40 p.m.

17

(Discussion held off the record)

18

THE VIDEOGRAPHER:

19

Back on the record at

4:42 p.m.

20

EXAMINATION BY MS. KLEAVER

21

MS. KLEAVER:

Hi, Mr. Shehadey.

22

A.

Hi.

23

Q.

I will introduce myself again.

24
25

My name is

Alison Kleaver, and I represent ExxonMobil Corporation.
Just a minute ago, Mr. Eickmeyer was asking you

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THE WITNESS:

No --

2

MS. KLEAVER:

Misstates prior testimony.

3

THE WITNESS:

No, I wouldn't consider it -- in

4

fact, we call it unbranded because, like I said, there's

5

different people that -- some are traders and some hold

6

no -- no title, or they -- they don't refine the

7

product.

8

would just know it as -- as California Air Resource

9

Board grade gasoline coming from any one of several

And I would actually call it unbranded and

10

terminals in the Bay Area, or Bakersfield at that time,

11

but wouldn't -- wouldn't know what brand it is.

12

The only brand I would differentiate was -- and

13

we are a, you know, branded jobber now for, you know,

14

when -- when the -- when the fuel comes in, each brand,

15

say, Chevron or Shell or 76 has an additive that you put

16

in, then it is branded gasoline.

17

refer to it really as unbranded gasoline.

18

MR. EICKMEYER:

Q.

But on this, we would

Did you handle branded

19

gasoline, such as you just described, of putting

20

particular additives back in the 2002 or 2003 time

21

frame?

22

A.

23

jobber.

24

at that time.

25

through an agreement with Valero.

At that time we were a -- yes, a branded
It was Exxon -- we had Exxon -- Exxon stations
And that was, I think, through a -It was actually

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Valero refined because that was after the merger, and I

2

think it was through Valero, but it was Exxon branded

3

gasoline.

4
5
6

Q.

So to your understanding, gasoline was refined

by Valero and then sold under the Exxon brand?
A.

No, it was -- it would still have come in the

7

same pipeline and it had the Exxon additive.

8

as who refined it, I wouldn't be able to say.

9
10
11
12
13

Q.

But as far

So was the Exxon additive added at your bulk

plant?
A.

No, that is at the terminal.

At the terminal.

There are separate tanks with each additive component.
Q.

Would that gasoline that you just described,

14

then, have been designated for delivery to Valero

15

stations?

16

MS. KLEAVER:

Calls for speculation.

17

THE WITNESS:

It would be for more like an

18

Exxon station.

19
20

MR. EICKMEYER:
backward.

Q.

I am sorry, I said that

For an Exxon station.

21

A.

Yeah.

22

Q.

And would that gasoline have been stored in the

23

aboveground gasoline storage tanks at the bulk plant

24

that we discussed earlier?

25

A.

No.

No.

Usually when you deliver to a

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station, you get the order for the station, you pick it

2

up at the terminal and then deliver it to the station.

3
4

Q.

So it wouldn't have gone back to your bulk

plant, then, but straight to the station?

5

A.

To the station, yeah, to the station.

6

Q.

What type of gasoline would have been stored in

7

the aboveground storage tanks at the bulk plant in 2002

8

or 2003, as far as what destinations that would be for?

9

A.

For like the bobtail, the smaller trucks

10

deliver to farms and, you know, smaller deliveries,

11

500-gallon, 1,000-gallon deliveries to farms or

12

businesses.

13

sometimes the terminal would be backed up or, you know,

14

just in case there was ever an outage, you have a

15

reserve where you can draw on that for your smaller

16

trucks, plus the smaller trucks could load in the

17

morning versus having to go to the pipeline and wait in

18

line with a bunch of other trucks.

19

for convenience, and for a business reason more than,

20

you know, the type of fuel.

21

Q.

Where we had our own bulk tanks, because

So it is really more

In looking at a document like Page 41, would

22

there be an indication on here as to where this shipment

23

would have been loaded at the terminal?

24

A.

I don't believe so.

25

Q.

I mean, I see -- let me ask you there -- under

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2
3

Did your drivers have any kind of similar
procedure?
A.

Yeah, it is whatever the term -- I think a lot

4

of terminals are different in that whatever the code is

5

at that terminal.

6

code that is or, you know, number system or letter

7

system.

8

have those information when they get there.

9
10
11

Q.

Yeah, you have to put in whatever

And that is what -- you know, so they have to

So the drivers would be given that information

by your dispatcher?
A.

Yes.

Well, he would -- they would have that

12

with them at all times.

13

just say Nella, you know, New West, Chevron, whoever.

14

And then they would look up their card and say, okay,

15

here's the code, and then get the gas.

16

Q.

And then the dispatcher would

The driver would have some kind of a reference

17

to look up the code for whatever company they were told

18

by the dispatcher?

19

A.

Yes.

20

MR. EICKMEYER:

21

I have nothing further.

22

25

All right.

Thank you.

FURTHER EXAMINATION BY MS. KLEAVER

23
24

Okay.

MS. KLEAVER:
Q.

Just a little bit of cleanup.

So you mentioned that during the 2002, 2003

time frame, it is your recollection that Red Triangle

DEPOBOOK REPORTING SERVICES [phone]

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March 16, 2011

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was an Exxon branded distributor?

2

A.

Yes.

3

Q.

But the gasoline that you picked up that was

4

Exxon branded didn't go to the cardlock facility,

5

correct?

6

A.

Correct.

7

Q.

And it didn't go to the bulk plant facility.

8

A.

Correct.

9

Q.

And if you have the deposition notice handy,

10
11

that was Exhibit 1.
A.

12
13

I have -MR. EICKMEYER:

The one with the label.

Yeah,

here you go.

14

MS. KLEAVER:

Q.

If you can look at the list

15

of addresses there.

16

gasoline to any of those stations, correct?

17

A.

You didn't deliver Exxon branded

Correct.

18

MS. KLEAVER:

Okay.

No further questions.

19

MR. EICKMEYER:

20

MS. OSEROFF:

21

MR. EICKMEYER:

Anything on the phone?

22

MS. WINTTERLE:

No questions.

23

MR. EICKMEYER:

Okay.

Anything?

No further questions.

I don't know if anyone

24

else is still there, but hearing nothing, then we can

25

conclude.

DEPOBOOK REPORTING SERVICES [phone]