ARAMARK UNIFORM AND APPAREL v. EastonARAMARK UNIFORM AND APPAREL v. Easton
We must decide whether a statute that allows suits for damages resulting from pollution creates a cause of action imposing liability without proof that the defendant caused the pollution, or merely modifies existing common law causes of action, which require proof of causation. In the decision below, the First District Court of Appeal held that the statute creates a cause of action for strict liability. See Easton v. Aramark Unif. & Career Apparel, Inc., 825 So.2d 996 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). Its holding expressly and directly conflicts with Mostoufi v. Presto Food Stores, Inc., 618 So.2d 1372, 1376-77 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993), which held it did not. We accepted jurisdiction to resolve the conflict. See
I. FACTS
Aramark sells and rents uniforms. In 1986, it acquired Servisco in a transaction that included twenty sites, at least twelve of which — including one adjacent to respondent Samuel Easton, Jr.‘s property — were later classified as contaminated. As part of the transaction, Aramark assumed Servisco‘s liabilities and began the assessment and remediation of the various contaminated sites. In 1990, Aramark executed a consent order with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP“) that, among other things, required Aramark to remediate the contamination in the groundwater under Easton‘s property.
In 1996, Easton learned that pollution from Aramark‘s adjacent property was contaminating his property. Chemical solvents on Aramark‘s property had seeped into the groundwater and then migrated onto Easton‘s. Those chemical solvents continue to contaminate Easton‘s soil and groundwater and will do so for several years. Remediation efforts could take as long as thirty years. While the pollution poses no significant health risks to humans, building occupants on Easton‘s property inhale vapors from the contaminated
Easton sought damages and injunctive relief from Aramark for the prior and ongoing migration of contaminated groundwater onto his property. He asserted various common law theories (reckless or negligent endangerment/failure to warn, strict liability, trespass, private nuisance, and negligence), as well as a claim under
The trial court held a bench trial. The court recognized that contamination of Easton‘s property had diminished its value by $153,000. It concluded, however, that Easton had failed to prove that either Aramark or Servisco had caused the contamination, and thus entered judgment in Aramark‘s favor.
On appeal, the First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that
II. ANALYSIS
The statute at issue is found within
Nothwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing contained in ss. 376.30-376.319 prohibits any person from bringing a cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction for all damages resulting from a discharge or other condition of pollution covered by ss. 376.30-376.319. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit or diminish a party‘s right to contribution from other parties jointly or severally liable for a prohibited discharge of pollutants or hazardous substances or other pollution conditions.
Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) or subsection (5), in any such suit, it is not necessary for such person to plead or prove negligence in any form or manner. Such person need only plead and prove the fact of the prohibited discharge or other pollutive condition and that it has occurred. The only defenses to such cause of action shall be those specified in s. 376.308.
The issue we must resolve is whether
As explained below, we conclude that the statute creates a new cause of action and does not merely modify existing ones. We analyze (A) the precise cause of action the statute authorizes; (B) the limited defenses the statute allows; and (C) other evidence in the statute itself that it intends to create a cause of action. Finally, in section (D), we address Aramark‘s arguments for a contrary interpretation.
A. The Cause of Action Provided Under Section 376.313(3)
This case presents an issue of statutory interpretation. The construction of a statute is an issue of law subject to de novo review. See State v. Glatzmayer, 789 So.2d 297, 301-02 (Fla.2001).
Several principles of statutory interpretation guide our analysis. Whether a violation of a statute can serve as the basis for a private cause of action is a question of legislative intent. See Baumstein v. Sunrise Cmty., Inc., 738 So.2d 420, 421 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); see also Nettles v. State, 850 So.2d 487, 493 (Fla.2003) (noting that legislative intent is the “polestar that guides the court‘s inquiry“). Courts must determine legislative intent from the plain meaning of the statute. State v. Dugan, 685 So.2d 1210, 1212 (Fla.1996). As to this statute, the legislature‘s expressed intent is that “[s]ections 376.30-376.319 ... shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes set forth under ss. 376.30-376.319 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended.”
A statute creates a new cause of action if it provides a remedy unavailable under the common law. See Fla. E. Coast Ry. Co. v. McRoberts, 111 Fla. 278, 149 So. 631, 632 (1933); see also Gunpowder Horse Stables, Inc. v. State Farm Auto. Ins. Co., 108 Md.App. 612, 673 A.2d 721, 728 (Spec.App.1996) (holding that the statute at issue created a new cause of action because the burden of proof needed under the statute was less rigorous than the common law burden). Under the common law, a landowner whose land is damaged by pollution from an adjoining landowner can assert various claims. See Davey Compressor Co. v. City of Delray Beach, 639 So.2d 595 (Fla.1994) (asserting trespass, negligence, and nuisance against adjoining landowner); Bunyak v. Clyde J. Yancey & Sons Dairy, Inc., 438 So.2d 891 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983) (asserting strict liability for hazardous or abnormally dangerous use of land, nuisance, and negligence against adjoining landowner). Each of these claims, however, requires proof that the defendant caused the pollution resulting in the damages. See, e.g., Durrance v. Sanders, 329 So.2d 26, 29 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976) (noting that a plaintiff in a nuisance action must demonstrate that the nuisance was the natural and proximate cause of the injury); Cunningham v. Gen. Motors Corp., 561 So.2d 656, 659 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (stating
On its face, therefore,
The absence of a causation requirement in the statute cannot be viewed as a legislative oversight. In other statutes within the same scheme (
B. The Defenses Available Under Section 376.313(3)
The statute‘s enumeration of specific and exclusive defenses provides further evidence that the Legislature intended to create a cause of action rather than to modify existing ones. The last sentence of
The defenses available under the statute allow defendants in certain circumstances to avoid liability if they can prove they did not cause or know about the pollution. The “innocent purchaser defense,” detailed in
Because the innocent purchaser defense is limited to petroleum and drycleaning sites, purchasers of other contaminated sites remain liable unless they fall within one of the other defenses listed in
The Legislature‘s creation of the innocent purchaser and third party defenses demonstrates that it intended to place the burden on the owners of polluting property to prove they did not cause the pollution, rather than require innocent victims of pollution to prove they did. Such defenses would be superfluous if a plaintiff had to prove, as part of the cause of action, that the defendant caused the contamination. See Acosta v. Richter, 671 So.2d 149, 153-54 (Fla.1996) (stating that a statute should be interpreted to give effect to all of its provisions).
The apparent purpose of
C. Other Parts of Section 376.313(3) Evidencing an Intent to Create a Cause of Action
Other aspects of the statute further evidence the legislature‘s intent to create a cause of action rather than modify existing ones. The title of
Another subsection further illuminates the Legislature‘s intent.
Finally, we find it probative that the statute contains an attorney‘s fees provision allowing a plaintiff to recover reasonable attorney‘s and expert witness fees. See
All these factors — the statute‘s provision of a damages remedy for the non-negligent discharge of pollution; the defenses provided in the statute, including the inclusion of lack of causation as an affirmative defense; and other aspects of the statute such as its title, the cumulative remedies clause and the attorney‘s fees provision — when combined with the statutory directive that
D. Aramark‘s Arguments
Aramark asserts several arguments for a contrary interpretation of the statute, which we now address. Aramark first asks us to adopt the rationale in Mostoufi. In that case, the court relied on the introductory language in
We disagree that this one phrase conclusively resolves the question. While the phrase, standing alone, may be so interpreted, it is only one factor. Moreover, although the phrase permits such an interpretation, it does not require it. It does not follow necessarily that because the statute is framed so as not to “prohibit” bringing a cause of action, it does not create one. It is just as possible — and, given the other provisions we have examined earlier, we believe more probable — that the statute refers to a new cause of action created in the statute. Moreover, the narrow interpretation applied in Mostoufi ignores the directive in
Aramark also argues that the First District‘s interpretation of the statute would produce inconsistent results because in circumstances such as those present here it would allow private individuals, but not the DEP, to sue owners of contaminated property. Aramark argues that the DEP may only enforce the statute if the owner either caused the discharge or owned or operated the facility at the time the discharge occurred. See
We disagree both that the statute draws such a distinction and that, if it did, the result would be incongruous. Aramark relies on
Even if our interpretation did grant greater rights to private parties than to the DEP, our conclusion would not change. Valid reasons exist for reducing proof requirements for those directly affected by pollutive agents. In fact, many statutes grant private parties the right to sue for damages, while granting public agencies only the right to enjoin the unlawful conduct.2 The DEP‘s powers are regulatory and concern the conduct of specific violators. See, e.g.,
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated, we approve the First District‘s decision in this case and hold that
It is so ordered.
PARIENTE, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, QUINCE, and BELL, JJ., concur.
LEWIS, J., concurs in result only.