Free Joint Case Management Statement - District Court of California - California

Case 4:07-cv-05067-SBA

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1 RONALD J. TENPAS ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL 2 ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 3 ELLEN MAHAN 4 DEPUTY CHIEF ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT SECTION 5 ANN C. HURLEY, DC BAR NO. 375676 TRIAL ATTORNEY 6 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 301 Howard Street, Suite 1050 7 San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel: (415) 744-6480 8 Fax: (415) 744-6476 E-mail: [email protected] 9 Attorneys for Plaintiff 10 United States of America 11 12 13 14 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 15 ex rel. CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD, and NORTH COAST UNIFIED AIR 16 QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, 17 18 vs. Plaintiffs, Case No. C 07 05067 SBA JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Date: Time: Ctrm: Judge: January 10, 2008 4:00 p.m. Telephonic: Hon. Saundra B. Armstrong UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

19 EVERGREEN PULP, INC., 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
LAW OFFICES

Defendant.

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

Case No. C 07 05067 SBA JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Case 4:07-cv-05067-SBA

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1 EDWIN G. BROWN, JR. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 MARY HACKENBRACHT, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN DAVIDSON, SUPERVISING ATTORNEY GENERAL 3 ANITA E. RUUD, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL (CA BAR NO. 072483) OFFICE OF THE CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL 4 455 Golden Gate Ave., Suite 11000 San Francisco, CA 94102 5 Tel: (415) 703-5533 Fax: (415) 703-5480 6 E-mail: [email protected] 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff California Air Resources Board 8 NANCY DIAMOND (CAL. BAR NO. 130963) 9 LAW OFFICES OF NANCY DIAMOND 822 G Street, Suite 3 10 Arcata, CA 95521 Tel: (707) 826-8540 11 Fax: (707) 826-8541 E-mail: [email protected] 12 Attorneys for Plaintiff 13 North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District 14 DAVID D. COOKE (BAR NO. 94939) ALLEN MATKINS LECK GAMBLE MALLORY & NATSIS LLP 15 Three Embarcadero Center, 12th Floor 16 San Francisco, CA 94111-4074 Phone: (415) 837-1515 17 Fax: (415) 837-1516 E-Mail: [email protected] 18 Attorneys for Defendant 19 Evergreen Pulp, Inc. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
LAW OFFICES

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

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Case 4:07-cv-05067-SBA

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Plaintiffs United States of America, the People of the State of California ex rel. California

2 Air Resources Board, and the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District (collectively 3 "Plaintiffs"), and Defendant Evergreen Pulp, Inc. ("Evergreen"), hereby present this Joint Case 4 Management Statement. Because the parties have agreed to settle the claims alleged in the 5 Complaint through a Consent Decree that is the subject of a pending request for approval, this 6 Joint Case Management Statement is relatively brief. 7 8 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE A Brief Description of the Events Underlying the Action. Evergreen owns and,

9 since early 2005, has operated the pulp mill located on the Samoa peninsula near Eureka, 10 California. At the mill, Evergreen utilizes chemical processes to convert wood chips into pulp, 11 which is used to make paper and paperboard products. Evergreen's operations are subject to 12 regulation under federal, state and local statutes and rules regarding emissions to the atmosphere. 13 On October 2, 2007, Plaintiffs filed the Complaint herein against Evergreen pursuant to

14 Section 113 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7413, California Health & Safety Code § 42403, 15 and North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District Rule 105. The Complaint alleges 16 violations of certain federal, state and local rules and regulations regarding emissions to the 17 atmosphere, principally with respect to emissions from two pieces of process equipment at the 18 mill, namely the smelt dissolver and the lime kiln. On the same date, Plaintiffs lodged a Consent 19 Decree that, if approved and entered as the judgment of the Court in this case, would resolve the 20 claims alleged in the Complaint. The Consent Decree contained an acknowledgement that 21 Evergreen denies any liability to the Plaintiffs arising out of the transactions or occurrences 22 alleged in the Complaint. 23 On December 13, 2007, after receiving and responding to public comment on the proposed

24 Consent Decree, the Plaintiffs filed a Request to Enter Consent Decree. Evergreen has not 25 opposed that request, which is pending as of the date of this Statement. 26 2. The principal factual issues which the parties dispute: The Parties' agreement to the

27 Consent Decree, subject to the Court's approval thereof, obviates the necessity of resolving 28 disputed factual issues.
LAW OFFICES

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

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3.

The principal legal issues which the parties dispute: The Parties' agreement to the

2 Consent Decree, subject to the Court's approval thereof, obviates the necessity of resolving 3 disputed legal issues. 4 4. The other factual issues [e.g., service of process, personal jurisdiction, subject

5 matter jurisdiction, or venue] which remain unresolved for the reasons stated below and how the 6 parties propose to resolve those issues: None/not applicable. 7 8 5. 6. The parties which have not been served and the reasons: None/not applicable. The additional parties which the below-specified parties intend to join and the

9 intended time frame for such joinder: None/not applicable. 10 7. The following parties consent to assignment of this case to a United States

11 Magistrate Judge for [court or jury] trial: None. 12 13 8. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION The parties have not filed a Stipulation and Proposed Order Selecting an ADR

14 process. In light of the settlement of this action through the proposed Consent Decree, the Parties 15 do not request additional ADR proceedings or assistance at this time. 16 9. Please indicate any other information regarding ADR process or deadline: Not

17 applicable. 18 19 10. DISCLOSURES The parties certify that they have made the following disclosures [list disclosures of

20 persons, documents, damage computations and insurance agreements]: In light of the settlement 21 of this action through the proposed Consent Decree, the Parties have refrained to date from 22 making Initial Disclosures pursuant to FRCP 26(a). 23 24 11. DISCOVERY The parties agree to the following discovery plan [Describe the plan e.g., any

25 limitation on the number, duration or subject matter for various kinds of discovery; discovery 26 from experts; deadlines for completing discovery]: In light of the resolution of this action through 27 the proposed Consent Decree, the Parties do not intend to conduct discovery. 28
LAW OFFICES

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

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TRIAL SCHEDULE The parties request a trial date as follows: In light of the resolution of this action

3 through the proposed Consent Decree, the Parties do not request a trial date. 4 13. The parties expect that the trial will last for the following number of days: Not

5 applicable. 6 7 Dated: January 3, 2008 8 9 10 11 12 Dated: January 3, 2008 13 14 15 16 17 18 Dated: January 3, 2008 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
LAW OFFICES

ALLEN MATKINS LECK GAMBLE MALLORY & NATSIS LLP DAVID D. COOKE

By:

/s/ David D. Cooke DAVID D. COOKE Attorneys for Defendant Evergreen Pulp, Inc.

RONALD J. TENPAS Assistant Attorney General Environment & Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice By: /s/ Ann C. Hurley ANN C. HURLEY Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America

OFFICE OF THE CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL EDWIN G. BROWN, JR. Attorney General of the State of California MARY HACKENBRACHT Assistant Attorney General By: /s/ Anita E. Ruud ANITA E. RUUD Attorneys for Plaintiff California Air Resources Board

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

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1 Dated: January 3, 2008 2 3 4 5 6

LAW OFFICES OF NANCY DIAMOND NANCY DIAMOND By: /s/ Nancy Diamond NANCY DIAMOND Attorneys for Plaintiff North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District

Attestation Regarding Signature: This document is being filed electronically under my

7 User ID and Password. Pursuant to General Order 45, Section X.B, I hereby attest that 8 concurrence in this filing of this document has been obtained from each of the other signatories to 9 this document. 10 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is

11 true and correct. Executed January 3, 2008 in San Francisco, California. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
LAW OFFICES

/s/ David D. Cooke David D. Cooke

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

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CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER [To be supplied as appropriate.]

4 Dated: _______________________ 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
LAW OFFICES

____________________________ Honorable Saundra B. Armstrong United States District Judge

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP

Case No. C 07 05067 SBA JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT -7-