Kitchin v. Bridgeton Landfill, LLC, No. 19-2072 (8th Cir. 2021)
Annotate this Case
The Eighth Circuit reversed the district court's decision to remand this removed action to state court under the local-controversy exception to the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA). In this case, plaintiff filed a class action complaint in Missouri sate court against defendants, alleging that defendants owned and/or operated the West Lake Landfill and were responsible for the contamination of plaintiffs' property, which plaintiffs claimed occurred due to defendants' allegedly improper acceptance and handling of radioactive waste at the landfill. Rock Road Industries was a citizen of Missouri at the time plaintiffs filed their complaint. After plaintiffs filed the complaint, Rock Road Industries merged with Bridgeton Landfill. Defendants removed to federal court, alleging federal-question jurisdiction existed under the Price-Anderson Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
After determining that it has jurisdiction over the appeal of the remand order under 28 U.S.C. 1291, the court concluded that CAFA's local-controversy exception does not require remand in this case because plaintiffs failed to show that the conduct of defendant Rock Road Industries - the only Missouri-citizen defendant and thus the only possible local defendant for purposes of the exception - formed a significant basis for the claims asserted in the complaint. The court remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: [Gruender, Author, with Benton and Stras, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Class Action Fairness Act. Plaintiffs alleged their property near Lambert International Airport had been contaminated by radioactive waste left over from the Manhattan Project;defendants removed the action to federal court, alleging federal-question jurisdiction existed under the Price-Anderson Act and CERCLA and that diversity jurisdiction existed under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA); the district court concluded that federal-question jurisdiction did not exist and that the "local-controversy" exception to CAFA applied and granted plaintiffs' motion to remand to state court; the court has jurisdiction over the appeal of the remand order under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291; the district court erred in remanding the case under the local controversy exception because plaintiff failed to show that the conduct of defendant Rock Road Industries - the only Missouri-citizen defendant and thus the only possible local defendant for purposes of the exception - formed a significant basis for the claims asserted in the complaint; the order remanding the case to state court is reversed, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings. Judge Stras, concurring in the judgment.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.