Mottolo v. Fireman's Fund ( 1995 )


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  • UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    No. 94-1707
    RICHARD A. MOTTOLO AND SERVICE
    PUMPING & DRAIN CO., INC.,
    Plaintiffs - Appellants,
    v.
    FIREMAN'S FUND INSURANCE
    COMPANY, ET AL.,
    Defendants - Appellees.
    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
    [Hon. Joseph A. DiClerico, U.S. District Judge]
    Before
    Torruella, Chief Judge,
    Boudin, Circuit Judge,
    and Barbadoro,* District Judge.
    James  H. Gambrill,  with whom  Engel, Gearreald  & Gardner,
    P.A. was on brief for appellants.
    Kevin C.  Devine,  with whom  Devine  & Nyquist,  Joseph  S.
    Crociata, Stuart L. Peacock, Gilberg & Kurent, Stephen Dibble and
    Ouellette,  Hallisey, Dibble  & Tanguay,  P.A. were on  brief for
    appellees.
    Thomas W. Brunner, Laura  A. Foggan, Richard H.  Gordin, Lon
    A. Berk, Dennis  A. Tosh and Wiley, Rein &  Fielding on brief for
    Insurance Environmental Litigation Association, amicus curiae.
    January 3, 1995
    *  Of the District of New Hampshire, sitting by designation.
    TORRUELLA, Chief Judge.  Plaintiffs-appellants, Richard
    TORRUELLA, Chief Judge.
    Mottolo  ("Mottolo")  and Service  Pumping  and  Drain Co.,  Inc.
    ("Service"), appeal the district court's  summary judgment ruling
    that no coverage  was provided under insurance policies issued to
    Mottolo by defendants-appellees, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company
    ("Fireman's Fund"),  United States  Fidelity  & Guaranty  Company
    ("USF  & G") and Aetna Casualty and Surety Company ("Aetna"), for
    injury  to property caused by  the dumping of  hazardous waste by
    Mottolo and Service.  For the reasons set forth below,  we affirm
    the district court's entry of summary judgment.
    I.
    I.
    BACKGROUND
    BACKGROUND
    On   September   8,  1983,   and   February  4,   1984,
    respectively,  the United States  and the State  of New Hampshire
    (together, "the  government") brought suits in  the United States
    District Court  for New  Hampshire against Mottolo,  Service, and
    others, pursuant  to  the Comprehensive  Environmental  Response,
    Compensation and Liability  Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"),  42 U.S.C.
    9601-9675,    amended   by    the   Superfund    Amendments   and
    Reauthorization Act of 1986,  Pub. L. No. 99-499, 
    100 Stat. 1613
    (1986),  and state  law,  to recover  costs  associated with  the
    cleanup of a site  used by Mottolo and Service to  dump hazardous
    waste.   The two  cases were later  consolidated.  On  August 28,
    1988, the  district court granted in part the government's motion
    for  summary judgment,  finding Mottolo  and Service  jointly and
    severally  responsible  for all  cleanup  costs  incurred by  the
    -2-
    government at the dump site.  United States v.
    Mottolo, 
    695 F. Supp. 615
    , 631 (D.N.H. 1988).
    Mottolo  and Service  then brought  this action  in the
    United  States  District  Court   for  New  Hampshire  seeking  a
    declaration  that the defendant insurance companies are obligated
    to  indemnify them  for the costs  of cleaning up  the dump site.
    Upon cross motions for summary judgment, the district court found
    that  because   plaintiffs'  damages   did  not  arise   from  an
    "occurrence,"  as  defined  by  defendants'  insurance  policies,
    defendants  did not  have  a duty  to  indemnify the  plaintiffs.
    Mottolo  v. Fireman's  Fund Ins.  Co., 
    830 F. Supp. 658
     (D.N.H.
    1993).   The district court therefore  granted defendants' motion
    for  summary judgment  and  denied plaintiffs'  cross motion  for
    summary judgment.  This appeal followed.
    II.
    II.
    STANDARD OF REVIEW
    STANDARD OF REVIEW
    We review a district  court's grant of summary judgment
    de novo and read the record in a light most favorable to the non-
    moving party,  drawing all  inferences in the  non-moving party's
    favor.  LeBlanc v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 
    6 F.3d 836
    , 841 (1st Cir.
    1993), cert. denied,    U.S.   , 
    114 S. Ct. 1398
    ,  
    128 L.Ed.2d 72
    (1994).   Summary  judgment is  appropriate when  "the pleadings,
    depositions, answers to interrogatories, and  admissions on file,
    together  with  the affidavits,  if any,  show  that there  is no
    genuine issue as to  any material fact and that  the moving party
    -3-
    3
    is entitled to  a judgment as a matter of law."   Fed. R. Civ. P.
    56(c).   A "material" fact is one  "that might affect the outcome
    of the suit under the governing law."  Anderson v. Liberty Lobby,
    Inc., 
    477 U.S. 242
    , 248, 
    106 S. Ct. 2505
    , 
    91 L.Ed.2d 202
     (1986).
    A dispute about a material fact  is "genuine" if "the evidence is
    such  that a  reasonable  jury could  return  a verdict  for  the
    nonmoving party."  
    Id.
    Essentially, Rule  56(c) mandates the entry  of summary
    judgment  "against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient
    to  establish the  existence  of  an  element essential  to  that
    party's case, and  on which that  party will  bear the burden  of
    proof at trial."   Celotex Corp. v.  Catrett, 
    477 U.S. 317
    ,  325,
    
    106 S. Ct. 2548
    , 
    91 L.Ed.2d 265
      (1986).  As to  issues on which
    the nonmovant has the burden of proof, the movant need do no more
    than  aver  "an  absence of  evidence  to  support  the nonmoving
    party's case."  
    Id. at 325
    .  The burden of production then shifts
    to  the nonmovant, who, to avoid summary judgment, must establish
    the  existence of  at least  one question  of  fact that  is both
    "genuine" and  "material."  See Anderson,  
    477 U.S. at 248
    .   The
    nonmovant,  however,  may  not  rest  upon  mere  denial  of  the
    pleadings.  Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.
    III.
    III.
    DISCUSSION
    DISCUSSION
    A.  Duty to Indemnify
    A.  Duty to Indemnify
    Under New Hampshire law, an insurer's duty to indemnify
    an insured may  be determined  by an analysis  of the  underlying
    -4-
    4
    allegations against  the insured  and  the express  terms of  the
    policy.  Great Lakes  Container v. National Union Fire  Ins., 
    727 F.2d 30
    ,  32  (1st Cir.  1984) (citing  Aetna Ins.  Co. v.  State
    Motors,  Inc.,  
    109 N.H. 120
    ,  
    244 A.2d 64
      (1968)).   If  the
    complaint in the underlying action does not on its face establish
    lack of  coverage, however, inquiry may  proceed into independent
    evidence.  M. Mooney Corp. v. United States Fidelity & Guar. Co.,
    Inc., 
    136 N.H. 463
    , 469, 
    618 A.2d 793
     (1992).  When interpreting
    the policy in light of these facts, a reviewing court  employs an
    objective standard, inquiring whether  a reasonable person in the
    insured's position  would have expected indemnity  for the claims
    asserted against him.   See Merchants Ins. Group v.  Warchol, 
    132 N.H. 23
    , 27, 
    560 A.2d 1162
     (1989).
    B.  The "Occurrence" Policy Provision
    B.  The "Occurrence" Policy Provision
    Mottolo seeks a declaration  of coverage from Fireman's
    Fund,  USF & G and  Aetna under insurance  policies which provide
    coverage  for  claims  brought  against  an  insured  because  of
    property  damage   caused  by   an  "occurrence."     The  phrase
    "occurrence,"  is  defined  in   each  policy  as  "an  accident,
    including  continuous or  repeated exposure to  conditions, which
    results in bodily injury or property damage neither  expected nor
    intended from the standpoint of the insured."  The threshold, and
    dispositive,  question   in  this   case  is   whether  Mottolo's
    contamination  of property  was an  "accident," and  therefore an
    -5-
    5
    "occurrence" covered by the relevant insurance policies.1
    The  New   Hampshire   Supreme  Court   has   addressed
    "occurrence" policy provisions virtually  identical to the one at
    bar in a line of cases beginning with Vermont Mutual  Ins. Co. v.
    Malcolm,  
    128 N.H. 521
    ,  
    517 A.2d 800
      (1986) and  ending  most
    recently  in Providence Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Scanlon, 
    138 N.H. 301
    , 
    638 A.2d 1246
     (1994) and Green Mountain Ins. Co. v. Foreman,
    
    138 N.H. 440
    ,  
    641 A.2d 230
      (1994).2   In  between, the  Court
    decided  Jespersen v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 
    131 N.H. 257
    ,
    260, 
    551 A.2d 530
     (1988) and  Fisher v. Fitchburg Mut. Ins.  Co.,
    
    131 N.H. 769
    , 
    560 A.2d 630
     (1989).   In those  cases, the Court
    construed  the term  "accident"  in the  context of  "occurrence"
    coverage to mean "'an  undesigned contingency, . . .  a happening
    by  chance, something out of the usual course of things, unusual,
    fortuitous, not anticipated, and  not naturally to be expected.'"
    Jespersen, 131 N.H. at  260 (quoting Vermont Mutual, 128  N.H. at
    523) (other  citations omitted).   The Jespersen  Court explained
    that the question of whether the causal event was "fortuitous" is
    1   Because  we  agree with  the  district court  that  Mottolo's
    actions did not constitute an "accident,"  and therefore were not
    an  "occurrence" covered  by  the insurance  policies, we  do not
    reach the question of whether the property damage was expected or
    intended from  the standpoint of Mottolo,  although, as explained
    infra, that inquiry is  at least partly subsumed by  our analysis
    of whether the contamination was an "accident."
    2  The substantive law of New Hampshire controls this litigation.
    See Klaxon Co. v. Stentor  Elec. Mfg. Co., 
    313 U.S. 487
    ,  496, 
    61 S. Ct. 1020
    , 
    85 L.Ed. 1477
     (1941)  (a federal  court sitting in
    diversity must apply the substantive law that would be applied by
    the state in which it sits); American Title Ins. Co. v. East West
    Fin. Corp., 
    959 F.2d 345
    , 348 (1st Cir. 1992).
    -6-
    6
    answered  by considering not "'the character of the act viewed in
    isolation,  but  . .  . the  character  of the  act  viewed, with
    reference to the insured, as  a cause of injury.'"  
    Id.
      (quoting
    Vermont Mutual, 128 N.H. at 524).
    -7-
    7
    In Scanlon, the New  Hampshire Supreme Court reiterated
    the  test formulated  in Vermont  Mutual for  determining whether
    there is an accident:
    "If the insured did not intend to inflict
    the   injury  on   the   victim  by   his
    intentional act,  and the act  was not so
    inherently injurious that the  injury was
    certain to  follow from it, the  act as a
    contributing  cause  of  injury would  be
    regarded    as    accidental    and    an
    'occurrence.'"
    Scanlon,  638 A.2d at 1249  (quoting Vermont Mutual,  128 N.H. at
    524).    An intentional  act is  "inherently  injurious if  it is
    certain to  result in some  injury, although not  necessarily the
    particular alleged injury."  Id.
    Mottolo's  actions in  dumping  materials  at the  site
    were, of  course, intentional.   Therefore, his actions  were not
    "accidental" if  either 1) he intended to  cause the injury or 2)
    his actions  were "inherently injurious."   Mottolo has  sworn by
    affidavit  that he did not  intend to injure  property by dumping
    the  waste.    The  question,  therefore,  is  whether  Mottolo's
    intentional acts  of dumping hazardous waste  were so "inherently
    injurious" that they could  not be performed without a  certainty
    that some degree of injury to property would result.   This is an
    objective  inquiry  for which  Mottolo's  "intent"  to injure  is
    irrelevant.   See  Jespersen,  131 N.H.  at  261 ("Because  their
    intentional act was inherently injurious, it is of no consequence
    that the Jespersens have  sworn, without contradiction, that they
    did not intend to cause the alleged injuries."); see also Fisher,
    131 N.H. at 773.
    -8-
    8
    C.  Underlying Allegations
    C.  Underlying Allegations
    The  United  States  Environmental   Protection  Agency
    ("EPA") made the following allegations of pollution in paragraphs
    10 and 11 of its Complaint in the underlying action:
    10.    Between  at  least  1975  and 1978
    Richard  Mottolo  buried  more than  1650
    drums   and   other  smaller   containers
    containing  waste,   including  hazardous
    substances, in the  southwest portion  of
    the  Mottolo  site.   These  wastes  were
    transported from K.J. Quinn and Co., Inc.
    and   Lewis   Chemical  Corporation   and
    disposed of at the Mottolo site.
    11.  The drums and  other containers were
    buried  in  an   area  in  the  southwest
    portion  of  the  site  adjacent  to  the
    intermittent stream.3
    Because   these   allegations    are   by    themselves
    insufficient  to  determine  whether  there was  an  "occurrence"
    within  the  meaning  of  the  insurance  policies  --  or,  more
    precisely, whether  Mottolo's acts were  so inherently  injurious
    that some degree of  injury to property was certain to  result --
    we look to the facts underlying the complaint.4
    At all times relevant to this litigation, Mottolo owned
    65 acres of land on Blueberry Hill Road  ("the site") in Raymond,
    New Hampshire.   In 1973,  Mottolo purchased  Service, a  company
    whose primary  business involved  cleaning out drains  and grease
    traps,  and pumping  out  septic tanks  and  cesspools.   Service
    3    The  State  of  New  Hampshire  made  essentially  the  same
    allegations in its Complaint.
    4  We  review those facts in the light  most favorable to Mottolo
    and Service.   See  Nereida-Gonz lez v. Tirado-Delgado,  
    990 F.2d 701
    , 702 (1st Cir. 1993).
    -9-
    9
    disposed of waste accumulated  from these operations -- generally
    sand, grease, and sewage  -- by taking the waste to a contractor,
    or by discharging the  sewage into the city sewer  system through
    licensed  spots.    In   1975  and  1977,  respectively,  Service
    contracted  with K.J. Quinn  and Company ("Quinn")  and the Lewis
    Chemical Corporation  ("Lewis") to pick  up and dispose  of waste
    generated  by those companies.  Mottolo picked up waste for Quinn
    and  Lewis until sometime in 1978, disposing approximately 200 to
    300 barrels of  waste from Lewis  and 1,200 to  1,300 barrels  of
    waste from Quinn.
    Mottolo or one of his  employees drove the Service dump
    truck to  pick  up drums  and  barrels of  waste  at Quinn's  two
    facilities  in Malden, Massachusetts and Seabrook, New Hampshire.
    Mottolo  knew  Quinn  manufactured  shoe  polish  at  its  Malden
    facility and  polyurethane at its Seabrook facility.  Mottolo was
    informed at the Seabrook plant that Quinn "had polyurethane which
    is very  thick -- it  looks like  wax."  Most  of the  containers
    usually  had  the  words  "slop"  or  "waste"  written  on  them.
    Although most  of the  drums  and barrels  Mottolo received  from
    Quinn were sealed, Mottolo occasionally  had to replace covers on
    the containers  and  observed  that  they held  a  thick  "goopy"
    substance or "water slop."  On one  occasion, Service picked up a
    cardboard container  from Quinn  which leaked a  "rancid" "super,
    super strong"  smelling liquid  onto the  pavement  at the  site.
    Mottolo  made no attempt to  ascertain the contents  of the waste
    containers.
    -10-
    10
    Mottolo knew Lewis ran a solvent factory and knew  that
    the  sludge  he  hauled  was  leftover  from  Lewis'  operations.
    Mottolo's agreement with Lewis began when a Lewis official called
    Mottolo and informed him that they had "a lot of solvent and were
    looking . .  . to get rid of  it."  Mottolo informed him  that he
    had a dump, but that he did not have a permit.  They nevertheless
    agreed that Mottolo would  dispose of the containers.   The drums
    and barrels Mottolo picked up at  Lewis were always sealed and he
    never saw what was in them when he picked them up.
    Mottolo, or  one of his employees,  would transport the
    drums and barrels  to the site on  Mottolo's truck and then  dump
    them.   After ten to fifteen loads accumulated, George Frotten, a
    Mottolo employee, would  bulldoze the containers in an attempt to
    level off the site.   Dirt was then placed over them.  During the
    bulldozing,  barrels and  drums would  be crushed  and flattened,
    causing them to rupture  and spill their contents into  the soil.
    Mottolo  knew that the containers broke during the bulldozing and
    that  their contents would spill  into the soil.   Mottolo stated
    that "[w]hen a drum broke open, you would have reds or blues. . .
    .   It would look like shoe polish."   He stated that some of the
    contents  would "sit there and  mass."  Mottolo  once brought two
    tank  trucks of liquid waste from Quinn and pumped their contents
    directly into the dump site.
    D.  The District Court's Analysis
    D.  The District Court's Analysis
    In  finding  that   Mottolo's  acts  were   "inherently
    injurious,"  the   district   court  applied   the   "exceptional
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    11
    circumstances" test  articulated by the New  Jersey Supreme Court
    in  Morton Int'l, Inc. v. General Accident  Ins. Co., 
    134 N.J. 1
    ,
    
    629 A.2d 831
      (1993),  rather than  New Hampshire's  "objective"
    test.    Mottolo,  
    830 F. Supp. at 664
    .   The  district  court
    distinguished the  Vermont Mutual-Scanlon line  of cases, stating
    that "'environmental-pollution litigation should  generally [not]
    be  included  in  that  category   of  cases  .  .  .   in  which
    reprehensible  conduct justifies  a presumption  that injury  was
    intended.'"   
    Id. at 664
     (quoting  Morton,  
    134 N.J. at 86
    ).5
    Applying   the   Morton  standard,   the  court   listed  several
    "exceptional  circumstances" that enabled  it to  infer Mottolo's
    subjective intent to injure.  Id. at 664-65.
    The  district court was bound  to apply the  law of New
    Hampshire  and erred in  not doing so.6   It is perhaps plausible
    that, in applying Morton,  the district court was expressing  its
    belief that New Hampshire courts would distinguish Vermont Mutual
    5   The  rationale for  the distinction  is that  "'insureds held
    responsible  for environmental  pollution  vary significantly  in
    their degree  of  culpability for  the harm  caused by  pollutant
    discharge.'"  Mottolo, 
    830 F. Supp. at 664
     (quoting  Morton, 
    134 N.J. at 86
    ).   Therefore,  "'[a] general rule  in environmental-
    pollution coverage litigation that  would permit intent to injure
    to  be presumed  simply on  the basis of  a knowing  discharge of
    pollutants would be unjustified.'"  
    Id.
     (quoting Morton, 
    134 N.J. at 86
    ).   Regardless of the merits of this  proposition, there is
    no basis in Vermont Mutual and its progeny for inferring that the
    New  Hampshire Supreme Court would adopt  it.  Rather, the law of
    New Hampshire, as evolved from Vermont Mutual through Scanlon and
    Foreman,  is clear.    The Court  applies  an objective  test  to
    determine whether  the causation of injury was an "accident" and,
    therefore, an "occurrence" for insurance coverage purposes.
    6  We note that the "exceptional circumstances"  standard applied
    by the district court was actually more favorable to Mottolo than
    New Hampshire's objective, reasonable person standard.
    -12-
    12
    and its  progeny and  apply the Morton  standard.   In any  case,
    however,  as  discussed below,  we  find  incorrect the  district
    court's  premise for  distinguishing the  New Hampshire  cases --
    that they relied  on the "reprehensible" nature of the claimant's
    conduct  to justify the presumption  of intent to  injure.7  Once
    the premise falls, so does the justification for using a standard
    other than that expressly pronounced by the New Hampshire Supreme
    Court.
    E.  Analysis
    E.  Analysis
    The  proper  question,  under  New  Hampshire  law,  is
    whether a reasonable person in Mottolo's shoes would foresee that
    his dumping of  waste was certain to cause  some degree of injury
    to  property.  See Fisher, 131 N.H.  at 773 ("A reasonable person
    would foresee that entering  into two contracts to sell  the same
    property would inevitably lead  to the breach of at  least one of
    7   Vermont  Mutual did  involve  "reprehensible" conduct.    See
    Vermont Mutual, 128 N.H. at 521 (act of sexually assaulting young
    boy inherently injurious because psychological injury  certain to
    result).   In Fisher,  however, the  New Hampshire  Supreme Court
    held  that  the sellers'  act of  signing  two purchase  and sale
    agreements  for his  home  was inherently  injurious because  the
    sellers would  inevitably have  to breach  one of  the contracts.
    Fisher, 131 N.H.  at 773.   Even a willful  breach of a  contract
    cannot properly  be termed "reprehensible" conduct; certainly not
    on  par  with  the  conduct  at issue  in  Vermont  Mutual.    In
    Jespersen, the Court  held that the  claimant's discharge of  his
    business partner was inherently  injurious because some degree of
    mental  and   physical  distress   was  a   natural  consequence.
    Jespersen,  131 N.H.  at 261.   The  discharge  of a  partner, by
    itself, is not "reprehensible" conduct.  Moreover, the Court went
    so  far as  to  note  that  even  a  justifiable  termination  is
    inherently injurious.  Id. (emphasis added).  In summary, the New
    Hampshire  Supreme   Court  has   never  linked   its  objective,
    "inherently injurious" standard to the "reprehensible" nature  of
    any of the claimants' conduct.
    -13-
    13
    the  two   contracts.").     The  New  Hampshire   Supreme  Court
    "determine[s] whether an injury was the result of an accident not
    by considering 'the character of the act viewed in isolation, but
    .  . .  the character of  the act  viewed, with  reference to the
    insured, as  a cause  of injury.'"   Jespersen,  131 N.H.  at 260
    (emphasis  added)  (quoting Vermont  Mutual,  128  N.H. at  524).
    "[T]he  Court does not look to the actor's subjective intent that
    the  result in question occur,  but rather, the  Court 'may infer
    that the  actor's state  of  mind was  the same  as a  reasonable
    person's state of  mind would  have been.'"   King v.  Prudential
    Property and Cas. Ins.  Co., 
    684 F. Supp. 347
    , 349  (D.N.H. 1988)
    (quoting W. Keeton,  D. Dobbs, R. Keeton, &  D. Owen, Prosser and
    Keeton on the Law of Torts   8, at 35-36).
    Although the  district court applied an incorrect legal
    standard, our application of  the proper legal standard leads  to
    the same result as that reached by the district court.  Under New
    Hampshire's  objective  standard,  Mottolo's  haphazard  dumping,
    bulldozing and burying of  drums containing chemical waste would,
    at  first blush,  appear objectively certain  to result  in "some
    injury" to adjacent property.8   During the routine bulldozing of
    the containers, they would  be crushed, flattened, and punctured,
    causing  their  contents  to  spill  into  the  soil.    The  EPA
    ultimately recovered  from  the site  more than  1,650 drums  and
    8  We note that it  is not necessary that it be certain  that the
    act cause  the particular injury  alleged; it  is only  necessary
    that it was certain to  cause some injury.  Scanlon, 638  A.2d at
    1249.
    -14-
    14
    other smaller containers which  held toxic, flammable, corrosive,
    irritant and  explosive materials.9   Mottolo was aware  that the
    containers  were leaking into the soil.  On one occasion, Mottolo
    pumped two tanks of liquid waste directly into the soil.  Because
    the  site is located adjacent  to an intermittent  stream, it was
    foreseeable  that whatever  was being  dumped would find  its way
    into the waters of the stream.10
    Mottolo  argues, however, that  he did not  know he was
    dumping hazardous waste.   The  test under New  Hampshire law  is
    whether a  reasonable person  under the circumstances  would have
    known that he was dumping harmful substances.  See Jespersen, 131
    N.H. at  260; Fisher, 131  N.H. at 773.   The facts  presented on
    summary judgment,  viewed most  favorably  to Mottolo,  establish
    that a reasonable person under the circumstances would have known
    that he was dumping some form of hazardous substances, or, at the
    least, that the  substances that were injurious to the  land.  As
    to this, there is no genuine factual dispute.
    Mottolo was  in the  business of cleaning,  among other
    things, cesspools  and grease traps, for  approximately two years
    prior to his contracting  with Quinn.  Mottolo disposed  of waste
    accumulated from those operations  -- generally sand, grease, and
    9   The hazardous  chemicals identified by  the EPA  at the  site
    included  acetone,  toluene,   trichlorethylene,  xylene,   butyl
    acetate,  methanol,  methylene  chloride,   methyl  methacrylate,
    methyl ethyl ketone, and methyl isobutyl ketone.
    10   Investigators  discovered  an upswelling  of groundwater  in
    several locations between the site and a creek downhill with odor
    and color consistent with those at the site.
    -15-
    15
    sewage -- by taking the waste to a contractor, or by  discharging
    the sewage  into the  city sewer  system through  licensed spots.
    Prior to  his relationships with  Quinn and Lewis,  then, Mottolo
    had  at  least some  rudimentary  knowledge of  how  the official
    system for disposing of waste operated.
    Mottolo  knew   Quinn  manufactured  shoe   polish  and
    polyurethane  and that Lewis operated a solvent factory.  A Quinn
    employee described  the polyurethane it needed  disposed as "very
    thick  -- it  looks like  wax."   Mottolo's agreement  with Lewis
    began when a Lewis employee called him and said that Lewis had "a
    lot of  solvent and were looking  . . . to  get rid of  it."  The
    Lewis employee  asked Mottolo if  he "had a  means to get  rid of
    some solid stuff."  Mottolo told him that he had a dump, but that
    he  did not have  a permit.  Apparently,  this was sufficient for
    Lewis.  Lewis always paid Mottolo in cash, no invoices were used,
    and Lewis never wanted any receipts.  Lewis' clandestine behavior
    would  suggest to a reasonable business person that something was
    amiss, but Mottolo made  no attempt to ascertain the  identity of
    the waste he was hauling.
    Mottolo knew that the  containers were bulldozed at the
    site, causing their  contents to spill out the soil.  He observed
    drums leak  and burst at  the site and he  knew that some  of the
    waste  that leaked  at  the site  consisted  of a  thick  "goopy"
    substance and  a "rancid" "super, super  strong" smelling liquid.
    Mottolo  disposed of  approximately 1,650  drums and  other small
    containers of waste at the site over a three to four year period.
    -16-
    16
    Based  on these facts, we think there can be no genuine
    dispute  that  a  reasonable  person  in  Mottolo's  shoes,  with
    Mottolo's  experience,  would  have  known that  he  was  dumping
    substances  that were certain to cause "some degree" of injury to
    adjacent property.
    -17-
    17
    Mottolo  makes one  last stand,  however, arguing  that
    regardless of what  is known  today, a reasonable  person in  the
    mid-1970s  would not  have  believed that  dumping the  waste was
    inherently injurious.   We agree  that the proper  test looks  to
    what  a reasonable  person, at  the time,  would have  known with
    respect  to  the injurious  nature of  his  acts.   The defendant
    insurance companies have provided  evidence of the actual harmful
    effects of the  dumping on  the site and  nearby water  supplies.
    The  defendants have  also provided,  as noted  above, sufficient
    evidence to  establish that a reasonable person  would have known
    that he was dumping  hazardous materials.  This evidence  is more
    than sufficient to shift  the burden to Mottolo to  establish the
    existence  of a  genuine issue  of material  fact  concerning the
    "state  of the  art" (or,  more precisely,  the state  of general
    knowledge) with respect to hazardous waste in the mid-1970s.  See
    Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 
    477 U.S. 317
    , 325, 
    106 S. Ct. 2505
    , 
    91 L.Ed.2d 202
     (1986).11
    Such evidence might  include expert affidavit testimony
    that the state of scientific evidence was insufficient during the
    relevant time  period and  that such  dumping was  not considered
    "inherently injurious."   Mottolo has presented no  such evidence
    11  Because the underlying action against Mottolo by the EPA  and
    the  State of New Hampshire  was initiated in  federal court, the
    burden shifting framework of New Hampshire's declaratory judgment
    act, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann.    491.22, does not apply.  See Town of
    Allenstown,  et al.  v. National  Casualty Company,  No. 94-1106,
    slip op. at  8-9 (1st Cir. Sept. 30, 1994).   The ultimate burden
    of  establishing coverage  therefore  remains on  the  plaintiff,
    Mottolo.
    -18-
    18
    and has failed to establish a genuine issue of material fact with
    respect  to the  state  of the  art  regarding knowledge  of  the
    dangers of hazardous waste  dumping in the 1970s.   His statement
    that  he  did  not  believe  the  substances  were  hazardous  is
    insufficient by itself to defeat the motion.  See Fed. R. Civ. P.
    56.
    IV.
    IV.
    CONCLUSION
    CONCLUSION
    Although  we find  that the  district court  applied an
    incorrect legal standard, we agree with its conclusion that there
    is no genuine issue of material fact that the intentional dumping
    of  hazardous  waste  by  the plaintiffs-appellants  was  not  an
    "occurrence" covered  by the  pertinent insurance policies.   The
    decision of  the  district court  granting  defendants-appellees'
    motion for summary judgment is therefore
    Affirmed.
    Affirmed.
    -19-
    19