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

Filing 4658

ANSWER to 4641 Crossclaim. Document filed by Hartree Partners, LP..(Sifre, David)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
IN RE METHYL TERTIARY BUTYL ETHER
(“MTBE”) PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION
This document relates to:

Master File No: 1:00-1898
MDL 1358 (VSB)
M21-88

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania., et al. v.
Exxon Mobil Corp., et al.,
Case No. 14-cv-06228-VSB
DEFENDANT HARTREE PARTNERS, LP’S ANSWER TO THE CROSSCLAIMS OF
GETTY PROPERTIES CORP. (ALLEGED TO BE INCORRECTLY DESIGNATED AS
“GETTY PROPERTIES CORPORATION”)
Pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Defendant Hartree Partners, LP, f/k/a
Hess Energy Trading Company, LLC (“Hartree”), by and through its undersigned attorneys,
hereby answers Defendant Getty Properties Corp.’s Crossclaims for Contribution and/or
Indemnity [Doc. No. 4641], filed October 1, 2021, as follows:
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
Hartree is a merchant commodities firm doing business in New York State that
specializes in trading in energy and its associated industries and products. Hartree is not and has
never been in the business of manufacturing, formulating or refining MTBE or gasoline
containing MTBE. Hartree does not and never did explore for or extract crude oil, nor does
Hartree own or operate any refineries, or bear any successor responsibility for any refining
liabilities. Hartree does not and never did own, operate, or control any retail service stations,
above-ground or underground gasoline storage tank systems, motor fuel terminals or refineries in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Rather, Hartree is a limited form of "downstream handler",
or "middleman", involved in the trading of, among other things, gasoline and gasoline products,

in the physical and on-exchange markets. Hartree has never blended or originated gasoline with
MTBE, nor has it sold gasoline to an end consumer.
ANSWER TO CROSSCLAIMS
1.

Denies knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief with respect to

paragraph 1 of the Crossclaims and the unnumbered paragraphs incorporated by reference
therein.
2.

Denies the allegations contained in paragraph 2 of the Crossclaims.

3.

Denies the allegations contained in paragraph 3 of the Crossclaims.

4.

Denies the allegations contained in paragraph 4 of the Crossclaims.

WHEREFORE, Hartree Partners, LP denies that Getty Properties Corp. is entitled to
any relief set forth in its crossclaims against Hartree Partners, LP. Hartree Partners, LP
respectfully requests that Court enter judgment in its favor and that the crossclaims asserted
against it be dismissed with prejudice and grant such other and further relief that the Court deems
just and proper.
Dated: Bronxville, New York
October 19, 2021
Law Office of David Sifre LLC

By:

-2-

/s
David A. Sifre (DS-7185)
51 Pondfield Road, Suite 9
Bronxville, New York 10708
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]
Attorney for Defendant
Hartree Partners, LP, f/k/a Hess Energy
Trading Company, LLC