Free Motion in Limine - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:01-cv-00201-VJW

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EXHIBIT D

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IN THE: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CAROLANDROBERT TESTWUIDE, ........ ~:*~i et al. , Plaintiffs, * * , vs. * No. 01-201L CLAIMS

~ .... ~~

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, * Defendant. *

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Reported by: Alfred A. Betz, Certified LiveNote Reporter The deposition of JON P. NELSON was taken on Wednesday, December 21, 2005, commencing at 9:30 a.m., at Quinn Gordon & Wolf, 102 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 402, Towson, Maryland, before Alfred A. Betz, Court Reporter and Notary Public.

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APPEARANCES :

On behalf of Plaintiffs: KIERON QUINN, Esquire Quinn, Gordon & Wolf 40 W. Chesapeake Avenue Suite 408 Towson, Maryland 21204 (410) 825-2300 (Voice)

On behalf of Defendant: ROBERT J. SMITH, Esquire STEVEN D. BRYANT, Esquire KELLE S. ACOCK, Esquire, Esquire U. S. Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division 601 D Street, N.W., PO Box 663 Washington, D.C. 20044 (202) 305-04~4 (Voice)

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examining people's annoyance due to noise. I think that kind of background knowledge is necessary for many economic studies. In examining the steel industry I had to read a lot of literature, a lot of engineering literature on the steel industry. had to have access to a book called The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel. And so when I do an economic study I do not confine myself solely to the economics literature. Q. So would you consider yourself an expert I

in the effect of noise on people? A. No. I'm not an expert in that. What

I've stated is that I have to have background knowledge of the literature in that area. I certainly do not do original studies of that issue~. Q. Now I'd like to turn to some experience

you've had in litigation. You have been involved: with Mr. Quinn in another case; is that right? A. Q. That's correct. How many cases have you been contracted

by this law office?

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testified in court?
AD

I've testified twice in court'.
t

Q.
A.

So those were the two times?
i

That's correct. Have you ever been offered as an expert
i~

Q.

in whatever the subject and been found to not be qualified as an expert to testify? A. Q. No. Do you have any consulting experience

outside of this case involving the effect of aircraft noise on properties around military air stations? A.
NO.

¯ ii

ii!i

Q.

Have you published any research examining

aircraft noise on residential property values around a military base or air station? A. Q. No. Do any of the studies that you cite in

your report examine the relationship between aircraft noise an~residential property values around military bases?

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A.

No. As I indicated, in my meta analysis

they are all concerned with major civilian airports.
Q.

Are you aware of any published or

unpublished studies examining the relationship of aircraft noise and residential property values around a military base?
;

A.

I am aware of one study, not a hedonic

study, by, if I'm pronouncing the names rS_ght, Sanford Fidel. Q. Okay. Was that study also associated

with Bolt, BBN, Bolt Barrick and I don't know ~che last name?
Ao

Newman, I believe. i Is that the study you're referringlto9 I believe so.
./

Q. A. Q.

We might come back to that. Well,

ly, did you draw any conclusions based on was found in that study? A. I did not think the study was very well I thought it was not using what I wo~id
k%i i~

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not asked to do an original study of the issue. Rather, I was asked to give my professional judgment as to, based on analysis, as to what would be the impact on property values from this realignment. I did not do an original study in my first report in 2001. I relied on my earlier survey of the literature. And also examined, as one should, what were the special features that might distinguish Oceana and Virginia Beach from
Ji

the set of studies that I looked at at that time. In my second report of September 2005 ,I then added the additional information from my meta analysis which had been contained in my rebuttal back in 2002 and used that as the basis for my evaluation. Q.

'<

)

You said you didn't do an original st~dy~

take that to mean that you didn't do a hedonic > of the community surrounding the naval air ]ns Oceana and Chesapeake; is that what you're ? That's correct.

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could obtain that would you recommend conducting a hedonic study of Virginia Beach as opposed to relying on your estimated NDI for a meta analysis? MR. QUINN: Same objection. A. By recommendation, I'm going to assume

6
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that you mean that this is a requirement of this case and I don't think it's a requirement of this case. MR. QUINN: Excuse me, don't interrupt him, please. A. :! Because all the previous studies have
\

obtained a negative result. My understanding is that the way this case is now going forward is that my expertise will establish a negative impact and other analyses of these properties will determine the exact damages. So at this~juncture, with hindsight as perfect, at this juncture my expertise is to determine the negative effect of aircrajft noise. I believe I have done that to my satisfaction. And other testimony will establish the exact magnitude of the impact.

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data. Q. And as you said you haven't investigated

Virginia Beach so no one there has refused any data that you would need to conduct this study. A. I have not done that personally. I would

go through Mr. Quinn if I were to pursue that issue. Q. Have you, do you know a Mr. Dennis Gruel
]

and Mr. Salzburg? A. Q. -them? A. Q. case? A.
Q.

I do not know them, no. So you've never talked to either one of

I have not talked to them. Have you reviewed their expert report in

No, I have not. Have you reviewed the data that they

ined in this case? No, I have not. You have reviewed the data that Dr. relied on in his expert opinion, the

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impact, a negative impact between, and there's increase in noise and property values and someone else would do the other piece of the damages,- if you want to describe them that way. What was your understanding of what would be done in that piece? A. My understanding of where the case is now

is that the class action part has been dropped and that my role as a consultant is to establish the negative effect of the aircraft noise on property values and that there would be a professional appraiser in the Virginia Beach area, I believe, would be establishing the damage to each of the properties that are being contested. Beyond that, I know nothing else about the role of that rson or persons or what they're doing or what method or methodology they're using~ Q. Okay. Have you had any communications of

kind, e-mail, correspondence, whatever else you up with between you and Mr. Gruel or Mr. ? A. I've never met them, I've never t.alked

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pure passage of time. Q. That's exactly right. They're not

dealing with a situation where the airport is expanding or more airplanes are coming in or louder airplanes are flying, are they? A. No. And I don't see that it's necessary

ro do that. Q. Y6~ don't see that. studied, has it? A. Yes, it has. When has it been studied? There are two studies that I cite £n a But it hasn't been

Q.
A.

)otnote in my rebuttal. One is looking at the expansion of the Winston-Salem Greensboro Airport the other one is looking at the closure Q:f the rport in Austin, Texas. Both of those studies examining the kinds of changes that I believe )u have in mind. Q. Okay. This Winston-Salem study you're about you cited it in where? A. It's in a footnote in my rebuttal report

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