Orchard View Farms, Inc. v. Martin Marietta Aluminum, Inc.

Martin Marietta Aluminum, Inc. (Martin Marietta) (defendant) owned and operated aluminum-reduction plants that polluted the environment for many years and damaged nearby crops, including an orchard operated by Orchard View Farms, Inc. (Orchard View) (plaintiff). Martin Marietta could have taken certain preventative measures, such as using tall or high-velocity stacks to stop the occasional emission of chemicals into the atmosphere, but failed to do so. In an attempt to mitigate the pollution, Martin Marietta sponsored the spraying of peach trees with a calcium chloride solution but failed to otherwise sufficiently control the harmful emissions. In prior cases, Martin Marietta participated in arbitration and acknowledged the company’s wrongdoing by agreeing to compensate neighboring peach and apricot growers damaged by the pollution. Martin Marietta did not fully appreciate the significance of the damage that the emissions caused on Orchard View, did not cooperate in any legitimate scientific inquiry to try to determine the nature and extent of the damage inflicted on Orchard View, and did not voluntarily arrange to compensate Orchard View as Martin Marietta did in prior cases to try to neutralize the harm. Orchard View filed suit against Martin Marietta, claiming trespass and seeking to recover compensatory and punitive damages. A jury awarded Orchard View compensatory and punitive damages. Martin Marietta appealed, arguing that certain evidence was improperly admitted at the trial. On appeal, the compensatory damages award was affirmed, but the punitive damages award was reversed, and the case was remanded for a retrial of the issue of punitive damages.