Judgment reinstated against Herbst Inc.

Tuesday, June 10, 2003 | 9:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A federal appeals court Monday reinstated a $1 million judgment against Terrible Herbst Inc. in a dispute over a cleanup of pollution beneath a gas station in Las Vegas.

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision of U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt, who voided the $1 million jury verdict and ordered a new trial in the case between Herbst and Union Oil Company of California.

Union Oil bought the station at 101 N. Decatur Blvd. in 1986 on the condition that Herbst would clean up the site. In 1990, the state Division of Environmental Protection relieved Herbst of the duty to monitor the site but did not relieve it of liability of any damage it had already done there.

The appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, said Union Oil and Herbst tried to settle who was responsible for the pollution but failed. Union Oil filed suit in 1998.

Hunt, after the jury verdict, ruled that the statute of limitations had run out and the suit by Union Oil was barred. He also ruled the finding of the jury was contrary to the clear weight of the evidence.

The appeals court, in an opinion written by Judge Richard Arnold, held the statute of limitations had not run out when Union Oil filed its suit. It said Hunt abused his discretion in granting a new trial.

Judge Johnnie Rawlinson, a former district judge in Las Vegas, dissented.

She said the question whether Union Oil should have been allowed to sue because of the lateness of the civil action was a matter of state law that has not been decided by the Nevada Supreme Court.