United States v. California Department of Transportation
Opinion
Opinion
Hamilton, J.
ORDER RE CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment came on for hearing before this court on February 2, 2011. Plaintiff United States of America appeared by its counsel Bradley R. O’Brien and Davis H. Forsythe, and defendant California Department of Transportation (“CalTrans”) appeared by its counsel Derek S. Van Hoften and Janet Wong. Having read the parties’ papers and carefully considered their arguments and the relevant legal authority, and good cause appearing, the court hereby GRANTS the United States’ motion, with one limited exception, and GRANTS CalTrans’ motion in part and DENIES it in part.
BACKGROUND
In this action, the United States seeks to hold CalTrans liable for damage caused by contaminants that have entered Mountain Lake, part of the Presidio of San Francisco (“the Presidio”), in runoff flowing through storm drains from Park Presidio Boulevard, which is operated and maintained by CalTrans. The United States also asserts that CalTrans is liable for repairs to a degraded pipeline system that carries overflow water from Mountain Lake to San Francisco’s sewer system.