Free Motion for Partial Summary Judgment - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

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05-563C (Judge Baskir) _____________________________________________________________________ IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS _____________________________________________________________________

COLLINS NATIONAL ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. _____________________________________________________________________ DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT _____________________________________________________________________

PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director BRYANT G. SNEE Assistant Director NANCY M. KIM Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit, 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington DC 20530 (202) 353-0546 March 29, 2006 Attorneys for Defendant

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 STATEMENT OF FACTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARGUMENT I. II. Standard For Summary Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Government Did Not Possess A Duty To Abate Asbestos Under The Lease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Government Did Not Possess A Duty To Abate Asbestos Under The Implied Common Law Duty Not To Commit Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Government Did Not Possess A Duty To Abate The Vinyl Asbestos Tiles Under The Spearin Doctrine . . . . . 23

III.

IV.

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CASES Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc, 477 U.S. 242 (1986) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Blake Constr. Co. v. United States, 987 F.2d 743 (Fed. Cir. 1993) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Blinderman Constr. Co. v. United States, 695 F.2d 552 (Fed. Cir. 1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Corman v. United States, 26 Cl. Ct. 1011, 1015 (1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Eaddy v. United States, 134 Ct. Cl. 338, 139 F. Supp. 49 (1956) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. United States, 195 Ct. Cl. 21, 444 F.2d 547 (1971) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Fortec Constructors v. United States, 760 F.2d 1288 (Fed. Cir. 1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Gould, Inc. v. United States, 935 F.2d 1271 (Fed. Cir. 1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hol-Gar Mfg. Corp. v. United States, 169 Ct. Cl. 384, 351 F.2d 972 (1965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Keydata Corp. v. United States, 205 Ct. Cl. 467, 504 F.2d 1115 (1974) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Lopez et al. v. A.C.S. Inc. et al. v. United States, 858 F.2d 712 (Fed. Cir. 1988) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26
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NVT Technologies, Inc. v. United States, 370 F.3d 1153 (Fed. Cir. 2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Poorvu v. United States, 190 Ct. Cl. 640, 420 F.2d 993 (1970) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 25 San Carlos Irrigation And Drainage District v. United States, 877 F.2d 957 (Fed. Cir. 1989) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Saul Subsidy II Limited Partnership v. Barram, 189 F.3d 1324 (Fed. Cir. 1999) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Spirit Leveling Contractors v. United States, 19 Cl. Ct. 84, 89 (1989) . . 15 Sweats Fashions, Inc. v. Pannill Knitting, Inc., 833 F.2d 1560 (Fed. Cir. 1987) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 United States v. Bostwick, 94 U.S. 53 (1876) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 22 United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132 (1918) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim MISCELLANEOUS Milton R. Friedman, Friedman On Leases, Vol. 1, ¶¶ 10.301, 10.502 (3d. ed. 1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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