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Sprayberry Crossing Partnership v. Phenix Supply Co.

The defendant was not entitled to j.n.o.v. following a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff in an action to recover for hazardous waste contamination because evidence that the defendant spilled perchlorethylene in the parking lot and inside a dry cleaning facility in the plaintiff's shopping center on many occasions was sufficient to establish causation.

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A Fulton County jury awarded Sprayberry Crossing Partnership “Sprayberry” $350,000 in an action against Phenix Supply Company “Phenix” to recover for hazardous waste contamination of Sprayberry’s property. The trial court granted Phenix’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict “JNOV” on the grounds that proximate cause was not proven. Sprayberry appeals, and for the reasons that follow, we reverse. On appeal, we determine whether, construing the evidence in a light most favorable to the party who obtained the jury verdict, there is any evidence to support the verdict.1 If there is any evidence to support the jury’s verdict, we must reverse the grant of JNOV.2

Viewed in that light, the evidence at trial showed that Sprayberry owns a shopping center listed on the Georgia Hazardous Site Inventory. The shopping center’s soil and groundwater were contaminated with perchlorethylene “perc”, a dry cleaning solvent. Multiple small spills, totaling between a half gallon and ten gallons of perc, caused the contamination. Phenix was, since the late 1970s, the sole supplier of perc to a dry cleaning facility in the shopping center. During Phenix’s monthly deliveries to the cleaners, perc would routinely leak from Phenix’s trucks into the parking lot of the shopping center. A stream of perc would run from the truck through the shopping center parking lot. Phenix’s delivery personnel also spilled perc inside the dry cleaners. Sprayberry’s expert witness stated that it was likely that leaks from Phenix’s delivery trucks contributed to the perc contamination at the shopping center. As a result of the perc contamination, Sprayberry has incurred cleanup costs in remediating the shopping center, and will continue to incur costs in the future.

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