HOUSTON — A Texas Appeals Court has remanded a Harris County and State of Texas lawsuit against the owners of a shopping center and the operators of a Houston dry cleaners alleging groundwater contamination, back to a lower court.
The appellants and cross-appellees, Harris County and the State of Texas acting by and through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), filed an appeal of a Harris County trial court's decision in its case against the appellees and cross-appellants S.K. Brothers, Inc., doing business as River Oaks Cleaners, Melcher Investments and others.
"Because we conclude Harris County and the State have standing to pursue their environmental claims against S.K. and Brothers and the Melcher Defendants, we reverse the trial court’s dismissal order and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings," Justice Jerry Zimmerer wrote in the Appeals Court's decision.
Harris County and the State of Texas filed suit against S.K. and Brothers, the owners of River Oaks Cleaners and the Melcher defendants, owners of the shopping center where the dry cleaners is located in 2011. They alleged River Oaks was creating groundwater pollution through its use of perchlorethylene (PCE), a hazardous waste. After a mistrial was declared in 2013, S.K and Brothers and the Melchers were granted a plea to dismiss the case based on their argument that Harris County or the State of Texas had standing to bring the lawsuit due to the "Dry Cleaner Remediation Program" but did allow the assessing of sanctions.
"Having sustained Harris County’s and TCEQ’s issues on appeal, we reverse the trial court’s order granting the plea to the jurisdiction and dismissing Harris County’s and TCEQ’s causes of action," Justice Zimmerer wrote.
Fourteenth Court of Appeals case number 14-17-00984-CV