Pennington v. Tetra Tech, Inc.

Background

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco was used by the Navy and, from approximately 1948 to 1969, housed the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory. The site had contamination involving, among other substances, petroleum fuels, pesticides, heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, volatile organic compounds, and radionuclides. The Navy hired Tetra Tech, Inc. and Tetra Tech EC, Inc. to perform cleanup work.

The plaintiffs are homeowners in Parcel A, a section of Hunters Point that was transferred to the City of San Francisco in 2004 for residential development. They sued Tetra Tech and other defendants in San Francisco Superior Court, asserting only California-law claims for fraud, negligence, nuisance, and other alleged injuries and losses. Tetra Tech EC removed the case to federal court under the federal-officer removal statute and on the ground that the claims arose on a federal enclave.

Remand motion

The plaintiffs moved to remand, meaning they asked the federal court to return the case to state court. They challenged Tetra Tech’s showing concerning the federal government’s acquisition of Hunters Point, California’s consent, the federal government’s acceptance of jurisdiction, and the fact that Parcel A was no longer federally owned.

Tetra Tech submitted congressional purchase authorizations, California legislative acts consenting to the federal government’s acquisition, deeds, letters concerning acceptance of jurisdiction, and other historical materials. The plaintiffs did not meaningfully contest that evidence or the Navy’s ownership and military use of Hunters Point with California’s consent. They maintained that some relevant conduct might have occurred outside the enclave, such as where data was managed, reports were created, records were kept, or alleged misrepresentations and disclosures were made.

Court’s analysis

The court explained that federal courts have federal-question jurisdiction over tort claims arising on federal enclaves. It identified the key question as the physical location where the claim arose. The court found that the evidence established federal ownership and use of Hunters Point as a Navy shipyard and research facility.

The court also relied on the plaintiffs’ own complaint, which alleged that Tetra Tech’s conduct concerned cleanup, contamination, toxic waste, and environmental conditions at Hunters Point. Those allegations showed that the claims were based on environmental toxins discharged at Hunters Point while it was an active Navy facility and federal enclave. The court concluded that removal was appropriate on federal-enclave grounds and denied the plaintiffs’ motion to remand.

Disposition and other orders

The order resolved the remand issue in this case and the related cases. It did not reach any choice-of-law issues that might arise from Hunters Point’s status as a federal enclave. The court lifted the previously imposed stay and set a further case-management conference for November 21, 2019, with a joint case-management statement due November 14, 2019.