Washington v. County of Contra Costa

Appellants are three of the several thousand plaintiffs seeking relief for injuries resulting from the alleged airborne release of hazardous material stored at General Chemical Company (GCC) in Richmond, California. The present appeal is from the judgment of dismissal as to defendant and respondent Contra Costa County (the County) entered after the court sustained the County’s demurrer to appellants’ complaints without leave to amend, and from the court’s reaffirmation of that ruling after granting appellants’ motion for reconsideration. We will affirm.

Background

The complaints alleged, generally, that GCC operated a sulfuric acid manufacturing facility. On the morning of July 26, 1993, GCC employees were unloading “acutely hazardous materials” stored in rail tank cars. It was alleged that “the loading of Acutely Hazardous Materials, including Oleum, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Trioxide, and Fuming Sulfuric Acid to, and from, Rail Tank Cars was not a normal or even an occasional event at the GCC Facility . . . and . . . had never been attempted prior to [that time.]” The employees became concerned about the potential for a release of the materials, but GCC nonetheless…