Order Grants Reargument and Access to Contaminated Property

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF DELA W ARE IN RE: 5 12 MAIN S TREET,) ST ANTON, DE 1 9804) N25M - 04 - 017 DJB) D ate Su bmitte d: Janu ary 5, 2 02 6 Date Decide d: F ebrua ry 16, 202 6 O RDER ON THE TRUST ’S MOTI ON FOR REARGUMENT – GRANTED. AMENDED ORDE R GRANTING ACCESS TO 512 MAIN S TREET, ST ANTO N, DE 19 804 1. This m atter i nvolves a n area of c ontami nated soi l locate d at 512 Main Street, in Sta nton, Delaware (here inafter “the Propert y”). 0F 1 The Prope rty is ow ned by the Ral p h V. Este p Fami ly T rust (hereina fter “t he T rust”). 1F 2 2. T he Sta te of Dela ware’ s Depar tment of N atura l Resour ces an d Envir onmen tal Cont rol (he reinaf ter “DN REC ”) filed a Pet i tion see king access to the Prope rty to addre ss the co ntamina tion t hat resul ted whe n an Underground Storage T ank (her einaf ter “US T”) relea sed pe trole um. 3. T he T r ust file d a Mot ion to D ismiss the Pe tition. 2F 3 A t w o - par t heari ng was hel d on the Pe tition o n Augus t 14 and 25, 2025. 3F 4 Ultimat ely, the Pe tition to 1 IN RE: 5 12 MAIN ST, ST ANTON, DE 19 804, N25M - 04 - 017 D JB, Supe rior C ourt Civi l Docket I tem (he reinaf ter “D. I.”) 1. 2 D.I. 1, ¶ 5. Th e T rust is not the sole o wner of th e Property. 3 D.I. 4. 4 D.I. 19, 24.

Acce ss the Prope rty was gra nted upon a fi nding t hat the UST contamination create d a pub lic safe ty haza rd and is in nee d of remedia tion. 4F 5 4. Foll owing tha t Order, the T r ust move d for r earg ument. 5F 6 In resp onse, DNR EC propose d a new, amen ded Order to satisf y the object ions raise d in the T rus t’ s Moti on. 6F 7 The T rus t responde d to DNR EC’ s pro posal o n Ja nuary 5, 202 6, mainta ining its o ppositio n to the Petitio n, but ack nowledging that DNREC ’ s modif icatio ns addr ess its M otion. 7F 8 5. A m otion for reargument is go verne d by Superi or Cour t Civil Rule of Proce dure 59(e). Rear gume nt is not permit ted whe n the mot ion simpl y seeks t o reha sh the ori ginal ar gu ments ma de and pr evious ly prese nted t o the Co urt. 8F 9 Unless the Co urt ha s overlo oked co ntroll ing prece dent, a le gal pri nciple, or misa pprehe nded the law or the fac ts in a wa y that has af fe cted the outcome o f the dec isio n, such a moti on w ill not be gra nted. 9F 10 6. In it s initia l Mo tion to Dis miss DNREC’ s Petition, th e T rust a rgu e d DNREC viola ted the procedur al req uirem ents en umerate d in 7 Del. C. §7408 (e), that “ the summ ary he aring procedur e af for ded by §7408 d oes no t aff ord due proces s 5 D.I. 29. 6 D.I. 30. 7 D.I. 32, 33. 8 D.I. 35. 9 Ken nedy v. Inv acar e Corp., 2006 WL 488590, *1 (De l. Super. Jan. 31, 200 6). 10 Id.

nece ssary to en ter the Proper ty and ma ke the subs tantia l changes DNRE C propose s,” and tha t DNRE C’ s cause of a ction sho uld ha ve been p ursued u nder T itle 7, Chapter 60. 10F 11 7. Foll owing the tw o - day heari ng and aft er consi dering th e partie s’ respe ctive legal s ubmis sions, the Mo tion to Dismi ss the P etiti on was denied. The Order grantin g DNREC’ s Petitio n, and thu s deny ing the M otion t o Dismiss, fo und that S ecti on 7408(e) of C hapte r 7 duly a ff orded due pr oces s to the T rust, tha t goo d cause exist ed to gra nt DNRE C acce ss to this pr oper ty and tha t DNREC was pr oceed ed under the proper aven ue. Speci ficall y, the O rder read: Publi c safety concerns mandate DNREC’ s access to the Propert y and acces s will be allow ed in acc ordan ce with the sup plementa l propo sed O r d e r. Due pr ocess h as been af for ded to t he T rust. Even under a rev iew of th is moti on pursu ant to S uperi or Court C ivil R ule of Pr oced ure 12(b), the Mo tion i s without mer i t. 11F 12 An Or der perm ittin g entry o nto the P roper ty foll owed, w ith spec ific cond itions a nd allow ance s. 12F 13 8. The T rust now conte nds that t he Order ente red impr oper ly impose s restr iction s on the ne ighbori ng proper ty loc ated at 608 - 5 10 Main Stre et, Newpor t, which was beyon d the sc ope of th e hearing. The T rust ar gues t hat the Court do es not ha ve authorit y to impos e obligat ions on a pr operty ot her than th e one list ed in 11 Id. 12 D.I. 29. 13 Id.

the or igina l Petiti on and upon w hich a hearing w as he ld and r eiter ates the limi tation s of an i n re m procee ding. 13F 14 9. DNREC ’ s respo nse see mingly acknowle dges the T rusts concerns and prop osed a mod ified Order lim iting t he access to the Pr operty i tself f or the nec essar y remedi ation. 14F 15 10. The T rust ’ s rep ly to DNREC’ s propo sed ame nd ed Orde r and Response acknow ledge d tha t the propos ed Amen dments satis fy the issue s raised in the Motion for Rear gument. H owever, the T ru st pres erved its ob jectio ns made to the init ial Petit ion for purpose of ap pellate r eview. 15F 16 11. Accor dingly, the M otion for R ear gumen t is GRANTED a s unoppose d, and the ori ginal Or der entere d on Octobe r 24, 2026, is MODIFIED, in recogni tion that good cau se exist s to perm it entry on to the Pr operty, that significant public safety concerns re main present o n th e Pro perty and re mediat ion is nec essary, but fur ther balan cing the ine vita ble incon venience to affe cted par ties. 12. Therefore, t he ORDER permit ting en try wi ll be m odified as f ollows: 16F 17 [ORDER CONTI NUES ON NEXT P AGE] 14 D.I. 30. 15 D.I. 32 - 33. 16 D.I. 34. 17 Additi onal res trictio ns impo sed have been u nderli ned for e asier review b y the Parti es. Portio ns of th e origin al Order we re st ricken witho ut notation, howeve r.

O n this 16th da y of February, 202 6, upon revi ew and cons iderati on of Petit ioner De laware Depar tment of Natura l Reso urces an d Envir onmenta l Contr ol’ s (“DNREC”) Petit ion for Access, the T rust’ s Respons e in Opp osition/ Motion to Dism iss, the T rus t’ s Motion f or Rear gum ent and D NREC’ s Respon se, as we ll as the hear ing on the ini tial P etition a nd all lega l memora ndum su bmitte d before t he C ourt; IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that DNR EC and/ or its c ontrac tor(s) m ay ac cess the Pr operty as foll ows: 1. DN REC and/ or its con tractor (s) may ac cess the proper ty for two (2) days for the purpo se of ta king so il bori ngs an d soil sam ples t o chara cterize the so il to be dispo sed in t he over excava tion pr ocess. 2. DN REC and /or it s contrac tor(s) may a ccess t he Prope rty da ily, for thirty (30) co ntinuo us days, betw een the hour s of 8 A.M. and 6 P. M., to perfor m an over exca vation of the rele ase. Thos e thirty (30) c ontinuo us days s hall com mence when DNREC a nd/o r its co ntractor (s) com menc e the ov er exca vation proces s. a. The over ex cavat ion wil l be perfor med p ursuan t to a workp lan tha t DNRE C shal l share wi th the P ropert y owner a nd sh all subm it to t he Court. b. The work plan shal l incor porate rea sonabl e eff orts to minim ize the disr uption t o the Pr oper ty owne r ’ s tenan ts, but such ef f orts wil l not i nclude any actio ns inc onsiste nt wit h work place a nd pub lic saf ety co nside rations, and wi th the

ef fecti ve remov al of co ntamina tion fr om the soi l and grou ndwa ter at and u nder the Prope rty. c. T wo wee ks prior t o comme ncemen t of the ove r exca vation, D NREC a nd/or its co ntractor (s) sha ll me et, in per son or vi rtually, wit h the Pr operty ow ner an d any tenan ts intere sted i n attend ing. The pur pose of the mee ting sh all be to e xplain the workp lan, th e ef for ts that wil l be take n to min imize di srupti on, route s of acc ess to the par cel by custome rs, and t he sc hedule o f remedia l acti vities on the Pr operty. d. Du ring over ex cavation op erations, DNREC and/o r its cont ractors, using their profe ssiona l jud gment, shall ha ve th e right t o make t he fina l deter minat ion abou t all over e xcava tion op eration s, and a ll work place an d public safety m easure s, at the site so long a s it is l imited t o the Pr operty. e. A t least tw o days pr ior to the c omme ncemen t of over e xcavati on oper ations, the Pr operty owner sh all remo ve, or ca use it s tenant s to remove, any st orage u nits or other object s that m ay inte rfere w ith th e exca vation a rea, a s set for th in th e workp lan. Thi s obliga tion ma y also e xtend t o the ons ite taco tr uck if t he work plan de termi nes that m oving t he taco tr uck is ne cessar y. T he Prop erty ow ner, or it’ s tenan t, shal l, if nece ssary, at leas t two da ys prior t o comm encemen t of ove r excava tion ope ratio ns, relocate any obstr uction s on the pr opert y that w ould fr ustrat e the pur pose of this remedi ation to an area aw ay from the area of over excavatio n as reflected in the workp lan.

1. At the c oncl usion of the over exc avati on, and dur ing the thirty (30) cont inuous d ay acce ss per iod refe rence d in pa ragrap h 2, abo ve, DN REC and/ or its contra ctor(s) sha ll fill the ove r exca vation a rea wit h appr opria te backf ill mate rial and shal l repair a ny dam age to the a sphalt parkin g area sur face cause d by the ove r exca vation pr ocess. All ef fort s shal l be made to re store t he par king a rea, a s close ly as po ssible, t o its or igina l condit ion pri or to the over e xcavat ion proc ess. 4. W ithin t hirty (3 0) days af ter the co nclus ion of the o ver exca vat ion, DNR EC and/ or its contract or(s) may access the Property for a period of one (1) cal endar week to ins tall g roundwater monitor ing wells, howe ver, no tice of this entr y must b e prov ided t o the Pro perty ow ner a nd ent rance s hould be limite d in nature and in t he least disrup tive me ans pos sible t o the Pr opert y owner a nd/or a ny tena nts. 5. After th e groundwate r monitoring wells are ins talled, DNREC and/o r its contra ctor(s) may then a ccess the Pro perty for the purpo se of ta king q uarter ly sample s from all installed monitoring wells, and to make any repairs to monitor ing wells as necessary, to ensure t hat all of the re mediati ons perf orme d wer e succe ssful and n o longe r pose a public safety c oncer n. Neit her the Property owner nor its tenan ts sha ll take any ac tions to inte rfere with the ope ration of th ese mon itorin g wells. Acc ess by DNR EC and/ or its co ntrac tor(s), shall b e permi tted for a perio d of two (2) years fr om the da te of the initia l instal latio n of the m onitor ing well s, for purp oses of q uarter ly moni toring a nd for m onitor ing we ll mainte nance a nd repa ir.

2. This Co urt shall r etain j urisdic tion o ver this ma tter unt il the con clusi on of the two (2) - year m onitori ng per iod as se t forth in paragra ph 5, a bove. DNREC s hall, at the conclu sion o f the tw o (2) - year monito ring per iod, and as soon as th e report is reas onably a vaila ble, pr ovide to the C ourt a nd to the Proper ty ow ner a re port on the stat us of the re media l acti on at the Proper ty. 7. S h ould DNREC con clude, at any point a fter over ex cavation, that ad ditio nal reme diat ion to the P roper ty is nece ssary, DNRE C shal l submit a n ew Petit ion ex plaini ng in de tail a ny propo sed a ddition al reme diati on, an d a furt her hear ing may be he ld to evalua te the impa cts on the Pr operty of s uch pro posed furt her remedi ation. IT IS SO ORDERED. _ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ ___ ___ _ Daniel le J. Bre nnan, Ju dge Cc: All pa rties v ia Lexi s File&Se rve Ex press