In Reeser v. NGK North American, Inc., No. 3275 EDA 2008 (Pa. Super Ct. Jan. 24, 2011), the a Reading, PA resident claimed he developed lung cancer due to exposure to beryllium emissions from a nearby plant. He filed a toxic tort lawsuit against both the facility AND the engineering firm that the firm retained to test and monitor the facility emssions. The plaintiff argued that the engineering firm knew that the purpose of the testing was to investigate compliance with regulatory emission standards designed to protect public health and that the engineering firm breached a duty to individuals in the community by not disclosing the test results to any government agency and nearby residents.
The trial court granted summary judgment to the engineering firm and appeal court affirmed, holding that the engineering firm had no duty to report its test results to anyone other than its client (the facility owner). Moreover, the court noted that the plaintiff fif not allege that the engineering firm had negligently performed its contractual duty of monitoring and accurately reporting the emissions results to the facility owners.
Of course, even if the engineering firm failed to properly carry out its contractual duties, I suspect the court would have found that there was no duty to the plaintiff.
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