City of Modesto v. The Dow Chemical Co. ( 2018 )


Menu:
  • Filed 2/6/18 (unmodified opn. attached)
    CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
    IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
    FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
    DIVISION FOUR
    CITY OF MODESTO et al.,                             A134419
    Plaintiffs and Appellants,
    (San Francisco County Super. Ct.
    v.                                                  Nos. CGC-98-999345 &
    THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY et                         CGC-98-999643)
    al.,
    ORDER MODIFYING OPINION
    Defendants and Respondents.                 AND DENYING REHEARING
    [NO CHANGE IN JUDGMENT]
    BY THE COURT:
    It is ordered that the opinion filed herein on January 8, 2018, be modified as follows:
    1. On page nine, the first full paragraph is divided into two paragraphs and
    modified to read:
    The residents of Modesto rely on groundwater wells to produce most of
    their potable water. The City is served by a network of 90 wells designed
    to serve specific neighborhoods, and operating interdependently. If a well
    is taken off-line, nearby wells are required to pump at greater capacity and
    the contamination plume is likely to migrate to those wells.
    PCE has been detected in four of the City’s wells, and two were removed
    from service after exceeding the state-mandated MCL. The parties dispute
    whether and when the third and fourth wells (or additional wells) will
    exceed the MCL for PCE.
    2. On page 20, the first sentence of the first paragraph under section IV.A.,
    subheading “1. The Precise Issue on Appeal,” is modified to read:
    1
    The judge in Phase IV concluded, based on his reading of Modesto I, that
    liability under the Polanco Act could be established only by proof of each
    link in a very specific chain of causation.
    3. On page 32, the final two sentences of footnote 10 are modified to read:
    The language on its face requires no such direct linkage, but only proof that
    defendants’ disposal instructions resulted in obstructing free use of property
    and that defendants’ conduct was a substantial factor in creating that harm.
    We also note, in passing, that it does not appear any such heightened degree
    of proof was used when the jury applied this instruction in Phase I.
    4. On page 33, at the end of the first full paragraph, add as footnote 11, the
    following footnote, which will require renumbering of all subsequent
    footnotes:
    11
    In their petition for rehearing, defendants disclaim that they ever
    “insisted . . . that causation could be proven only by direct evidence.” But
    defendants did insist—and argued that the trial court insisted—on proof
    that dry cleaners read, relied upon and followed defendants’ instructions.
    “As Judge Goldsmith made clear, the evidence must show that the reason
    the drycleaner [disposed of the PCE waste consistent with defendants’
    instructions] was that she or he read and acted on [] the instruction[s].”
    (Italics added.) Defendants do not explain how those facts could be proven
    other than by direct evidence.
    5. On page 37, the third sentence of the second full paragraph is modified to read:
    Defendants contend, more precisely, it was not proven that during the years
    their product was provably sold at any Phase IV site, an improper disposal
    instruction was disseminated.
    6. On pages 40-41, the first and second paragraphs following section IV.A., under
    the subheading “7. Conclusion” are integrated and modified as follows:
    Defendants argued and the trial court concluded that Modesto I set up a
    special proof standard under the Polanco Act, viz, that causation can be
    demonstrated only by proof that a specific disposal instruction was received
    by a dry cleaner who read, relied on and followed the instruction and by
    that act caused the contamination, to the exclusion of any other evidence
    that might be relevant to prove defendants assisted in creating the pollution.
    This is not a fair reading of the opinion. Modesto I did not set limits on
    2
    how causation was to be proven; it articulated a liability standard that
    required, as a threshold matter, that the provider of the product be
    something more than a mute, passive supplier. “Those [manufacturers] who
    took affirmative steps directed toward the improper discharge of solvent
    wastes—for instance, . . . by instructing users of its products to dispose of
    wastes improperly—may be liable under [that statute]” but those who
    merely placed solvents in the stream of commerce without warning about
    the dangers of improper disposal are not liable. (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119
    Cal.App.4th at p. 43.) That formulation does not change the causation
    analysis, which is, considering the evidence as a whole, is it more likely
    than not that defendants’ improper instructions, and any other relevant
    conduct, were a substantial factor in causing the pollution. Because the
    trial court imposed a far more stringent proof of causation requirement in
    the Phase IV trial, we shall vacate that portion of the judgment.
    7. On page 95, after the fourth paragraph in section “V. DISPOSITION” the
    following paragraph is added:
    The further proceedings ordered herein shall not include R.R. Street and
    Company.
    There is no change in the judgment.
    Defendants’ petition for rehearing is denied.
    (Ruvolo, P.J., Streeter, J., and Rivera, J.* participated in the decision.)
    Dated: ___________                                         _______________________, P.J.
    *
    Retired Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Four,
    assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California
    Constitution.
    3
    Filed 1/8/18 (unmodified version)
    CERTIFIED FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION*
    IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
    FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
    DIVISION FOUR
    CITY OF MODESTO et al.,
    Plaintiffs and Appellants,
    A134419
    v.
    THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY et                        (San Francisco County Super. Ct.
    al.,                                               Nos. CGC-98-999345 &
    CGC-98-999643)
    Defendants and Respondents.
    I. INTRODUCTION
    In late 1998, the City of Modesto (the City), the City of Modesto Sewer District
    No. 1 (the Sewer District) and the Modesto Redevelopment Agency (the RDA) sued
    various retail dry cleaning businesses (dry cleaners) operating in Modesto together with
    the manufacturers of dry cleaning equipment used at those dry cleaners, and the
    manufacturers and distributors of dry cleaning solvent. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants
    had caused the City’s groundwater, sewer system and easements, and the soil of property
    located within the project area of the RDA, to become contaminated with
    perchloroethylene (PCE), a “toxic chlorinated solvent[].” Plaintiffs sought recovery for
    the past, present and future costs of investigation and remediation of the contamination at
    numerous sites under multiple legal theories.
    This action has engendered nearly 14 years of litigation, including three detours to
    this court, and five trial phases. A final judgment was entered in November of 2011, and
    an amended judgment in May 2012. To the extent it can be summarized in one sentence,
    *
    Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 8.1105(b) and 8.1110, Sections I, II,
    III.B. and Section IV.A. (except subsection 1.) of this opinion are certified for
    publication.
    1
    the judgment awarded plaintiffs damages with respect to three dry cleaning sites,
    including an award of punitive damages against three defendants; as to all other claims,
    judgment was entered in favor of defendants.
    An issue that has been central to this litigation from the outset is the interpretation
    and application of the Polanco Redevelopment Act (Health & Saf. Code, § 33459 et seq.)
    (the Polanco Act),1 which, in essence, authorized redevelopment agencies to remediate
    contamination found in property, including private property, located in a redevelopment
    project area, and to recover from the “responsible parties” the costs of the cleanup. Early
    in the case, this division issued a decision, on a petition for writ of mandate, providing
    our construction of that law. Specifically, we reversed the trial court’s summary
    adjudication of the Polanco Act claims, concluding that the trial court erred in finding, as
    a matter of law, that defendants could not be “responsible parties” under the Act based on
    the facts put forward by the plaintiffs. (City of Modesto Redevelopment Agency v.
    Superior Court (2004) 
    119 Cal. App. 4th 28
    [Modesto I].)
    Thereafter, the Polanco Act claims were tried two times, with respect to different
    contaminated sites, before two different judges, with different results. In the second
    proceeding, the trial court concluded that Modesto I implied a special causation standard
    was applicable to the Polanco Act claims. In the published portion of this opinion we
    hold that no special causation standard applies and we will, accordingly, vacate the trial
    court’s ruling and order on the Phase IV Polanco Act claims.
    In the unpublished portion of the opinion we address the remaining issues on
    appeal. We will vacate the trial court’s pretrial ruling with respect to plaintiffs’ nuisance
    claims; the punitive damages award against defendant, the Dow Chemical Company
    (Dow) in Phase I; and the trial court’s directed verdict on grounds of no present injury as
    to various sites in Phase III. Our determinations with respect to the statute of limitations,
    the denial of equitable relief, the amended judgment, the prevailing parties and the
    allocation of settlement credits will be described in the course of the opinion.
    1
    All unattributed statutory cites are to the Health and Safety Code.
    2
    II. GENERAL BACKGROUND
    We begin by providing some general technical information about the
    characteristics of PCE, how it can contaminate groundwater, how it is used and reused in
    dry cleaning equipment, and how it was released into the environment. This is not a
    comprehensive discussion of the evidence but is intended only to supply context for our
    discussion of the issues on this appeal.
    A. Characteristics of Perchloroethylene
    Perchloroethylene, also known as tetrachloroethylene, is a molecule containing
    chlorine atoms and carbon atoms. It is also characterized as a “volatile halogenated
    organic compound,” a “halogenated hydrocarbon”, a “chlorinated solvent” or a
    “chlorinated hydrocarbon”. As shorthand, it is referred to as “perc” or PCE. All
    chlorinated hydrocarbons, like all solvents other than water, are “toxic.” In 1978, the
    National Institute for Occupational Safety Hazards (NIOSH) recommended that PCE be
    handled as if it were a human carcinogen. In 1980 the State of California began
    regulating PCE as a hazardous waste. In 1984, when the Resource Conservation
    Recovery Administration (RCRA) was reauthorized, its regulations brought “small dry
    cleaners” under the same requirements as major hazardous waste sources, with respect to
    PCE.
    The California Department of Health Services has set the maximum contamination
    level (MCL) for PCE in drinking water at 5 parts per billion based on its finding that PCE
    potentially causes cancer in humans. Applying this standard, if one cup of PCE were
    completely dissolved in water, it could contaminate 24 million gallons of groundwater.
    There are also regulations to prevent migration of PCE vapors in concentrations that
    could cause cancer. All parties agree that the applicable regulatory standards are not
    arbitrary and address genuine public health risks.
    PCE is a colorless liquid, and is therefore difficult to see once released into soil. It
    is a cleaning solvent used by dry cleaners and also in degreasing operations. Because in
    its pure form it is a dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), it is heavier than water
    and so when placed in water it will sink and sit below the water. This is distinguished
    3
    from a light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL), such as gasoline, that is lighter than
    water and will therefore float on top. PCE also has lower viscosity (internal friction) than
    water and so it is very mobile and can move quickly to penetrate, for example, small
    cracks or joints in concrete. PCE does not readily dissolve in water—thus, “non-
    aqueous”—although it will dissolve very slowly over time. PCE is also quite volatile,
    meaning it will quickly become a gas when it is heated or released into soil where it
    mixes with the soil gas.
    As is explained below, PCE is particularly “persistent” and “long lived” compared
    to other contaminants, making it extremely difficult to accomplish complete remediation.
    B. The Flow and Transport of PCE in a Groundwater System
    The City of Modesto uses groundwater as a primary source of its drinking water
    supply. The hydrologic cycle for groundwater is fairly straightforward. The rain falls
    and sinks into the “soil zone” which is the layer near the surface where plants and trees
    take it up with their roots. The rest of the water continues to move downward through the
    soil into the “vadose zone,” in which there are various types of soils—fine grain such as
    clay or silt and coarse grain such as sand or gravel. Some of the water may “perch” on
    the fine grain materials but other water will flow through the coarser soil media and
    recharge the water table, which is at the top of the “saturated zone” from which ground
    water is pumped by wells. Between the vadose and saturated zones is a “capillary
    fringe.” This space can hold “quite a bit of liquid,” and the porous media can pull water
    up from the water table.
    As we have noted, when PCE is released into the ground it can volatilize and mix
    with the soil gases. Where there is a very high concentration of PCE in the soil the PCE
    gas, which is denser than air, will tend to sink. If it reaches all the way to the capillary
    fringe it can then recondense on the water table and begin to dissolve into the
    groundwater.
    When released into the ground, PCE can also remain in liquid form and will sink
    through the subsurface to the water table. Unlike gasoline—which is a LNAPL and will
    tend to float on top of the water table—PCE is a DNAPL and so will continue to move
    4
    past the water table and through the saturated zone. Because it dissolves into water only
    very slowly, it creates a long-term continuing source of contamination to any
    groundwater that comes in contact with it.
    Small releases of pure PCE will tend to penetrate only into the vadose zone
    because it gets “pulled apart” as both a gas and a liquid and will eventually get trapped in
    the soil pores—much like a small amount of coffee will be absorbed into and trapped in a
    sugar cube. When more PCE is added, however—either a larger release or repeated
    releases—the PCE breaks out and penetrates deeper. Even if it pools or perches on the
    fine-grained soil layers, it can still stair-step down through the subsurface and reach the
    capillary fringe and—if there is enough PCE—the water table. If PCE is being cleaned
    out of the groundwater, the PCE that pools or has been trapped above the water table will
    continue to move into the water table—a process called “back diffusion”—and thus is
    another long term source of groundwater contamination. PCE that has been trapped in
    the subsurface can also move downward during a “recharge event;” the PCE can dissolve
    into the rainwater and be released from the vadose zone, and is yet another long-term
    source of contamination.
    PCE that pools on top of fine-grained layers will stop moving vertically but then
    will begin to move in other directions due to differing soil strata and “fine textural
    changes” in the sand; as a result, PCE will have a very complicated pattern of
    distribution, making it more difficult to locate. Also, because DNAPL’s can be trapped
    in various ways, and then dissolve and move over time, they are extremely difficult to
    clean up. There are sites in the United States where they have been trying to clean up
    PCE for decades.
    C. The Use, Reuse and Release of PCE and PCE Residue at Dry Cleaners
    As we have described, PCE is particularly “persistent” and “long lived” compared
    to other compounds, making it difficult to remediate but advantageous for industrial use
    because it can be reused after being distilled back to its pure state. Dry cleaning
    equipment therefore has the capacity to do that. Here we provide an elementary
    description of how the various machines work.
    5
    From the 1950’s to the 1970’s, dry cleaners used what is now referred to as “first
    generation” equipment. In that iteration, the washer and the dryer were separate
    machines. In this equipment PCE was continuously pumped into, and drained out of, the
    washer from a tank on the bottom of the machine into the basket containing the clothing.
    As the solvent drained out it was sent through a filter, to clean out the solids, dyes and
    soil being removed from garments, before it was pumped back into the washing basket.
    After the cleaning cycle was complete, the washer entered a spin cycle to remove and
    drain as much solvent as possible back into the tank. The clothing was then moved to
    the “reclaiming dryer.” This dryer did not vent to the air during the drying cycle; the
    vapors were kept in the machine in order to recover the solvent. The dryer also had a lint
    trap. As will be explained, the vapor was then cooled using water coils to recondense the
    solvent back to liquid form.
    The “second generation” machines were used from the 1970’s to the mid-1980’s.
    This equipment operated in the same way, but combined the washing and drying
    functions into one “dry-to-dry” machine. Also, after reclaiming most of the vapor, some
    residual vapors were vented into the air at end of the dry cycle. An operator, however,
    could add a “sniffer” (carbon adsorber) to capture the vapors. These were very large and
    contained perhaps 100 pounds of charcoal or carbon in which the vapors were caught.
    The “third generation” machines were used from the mid-1980’s to the mid-
    1990’s. These were also dry-to-dry machines, but used refrigeration coils instead of
    water to cool the vapor, which was far more efficient in turning vapors to liquid for
    recovery. The fourth generation machines added a built-in carbon adsorber to filter out
    the last traces of PCE vapors before the door to the machine was opened.
    Reclaiming dryers (or “reclaimers”) operate with hot air, so the solvent on the
    clothing vaporizes. Those vapors are continually blown out of the reclaimer by a fan,
    through the lint filter. The vapors enter a pipe with cooling coils, where the solvent turns
    to liquid and drips off the coils into a pipe leading to the water separator.
    The water separator is a device by which any water—even just from humidity in
    the air—is removed from the recaptured solvent. All used solvent, no matter from where
    6
    it is reclaimed or distilled, must go through the water separator before it is reused. The
    water separator operates by gravity. Because PCE is heavier than water, it will settle to
    the bottom of the separator. It is then siphoned out by a drain that is piped back to the
    tank. The water, called “contact water” or “separator wastewater” is drained out through
    a different pipe located higher in the separator, and was (during the pertinent time period)
    sent either down a drain or into a pail, depending on how the machine had been set up.
    All contact water has a certain amount of PCE left in it, because the separation is
    “imperfect.”
    As noted, some dry cleaners added a sniffer, or carbon adsorber, to collect solvent
    vapors. To release the solvent from the sniffer, live steam would be applied to the
    charcoal bed to release the solvent as vapor; the steam and vapors were then vented to the
    pipe with the cooling coils where they would condense and go to the water separator.
    This process creates significantly more separator wastewater than other reclaiming
    processes because of the large amount of steam.
    The final major piece of equipment is the still, which is used to clean the solvent.
    All solvent is periodically sent to the still, because it will accumulate residual oil, grease,
    wax, detergent and other impurities. The solvent is heated with steam coils until it begins
    to vaporize. The vapors are sent through pipes with cooling coils and then to the water
    separator. The residue, that is, what remains behind after the PCE is vaporized, is called
    “still bottom residue” or “muck.”
    A still is also used to extract PCE from the filters in the machines that capture the
    solids, dyes and soils. Historically, dry cleaners used diatomaceous earth (a powder) to
    filter the PCE, but later they began to use cartridges filled with carbon or carbon and
    activated clay; some had pleated cellulose on the outside. The still had mechanical
    paddles to continuously stir the mixture to release the PCE. The residue, or “muck” was
    then shoveled into a container, and disposed of as waste. This residue contained about 20
    percent to 25 percent PCE. A similar process was used for the cartridges. When the
    cartridge needed to be changed it was removed and drained for 24 hours; that liquid went
    into the still and was processed leaving a residue like very heavy heating oil, which was
    7
    drained out through a valve into a pail. In the first generation equipment the PCE content
    left in the residue could be as high as 50 percent. In the new equipment (being sold in the
    early 2000’s) there is as little as 10 percent.
    Even after draining the filter for 24 hours there could be as much as a gallon and a
    half of PCE remaining in the filter. At some point prior to 1984, a process was developed
    by which, like cleaning out a sniffer, high pressure steam was used to release the
    remaining PCE from the filter cartridge, although it could never remove 100 percent.
    This was accomplished by a “solvent recovery system” or SRS. The cartridges were
    placed into a tank and steam was released into the tank to vaporize the PCE which, again,
    goes to the water separator. This involves a great deal of steam, and creates a
    “tremendous” amount of contact water—up to 20-25 gallons.
    In very general terms, PCE releases into the environment occurred as a result of
    equipment failures or leaks during operation or maintenance of the machine or the water
    separator, leaks in joints or valves due to vibration of equipment, and leaks or spills
    during solvent delivery or transfers which are flushed to the outdoors, or which permeate
    the concrete floors, or seep through the cracks or joints in the floors. PCE releases also
    occurred as a result of tossing filter cartridges into the garbage, tossing muck into the
    trash or into dumpsters, or “out the back door”; and by PCE disposal practices which
    have been described as “dumping” or “back lot burial.” PCE also entered the soil by
    releases of separator water on the ground or down the drain and into the sewer system,
    thence out of sewer pipes into the ground.
    In addition, those servicing the dry cleaners on behalf of the manufacturers or
    distributors performed tests to check on the amount of detergent in the solvent. The dry
    cleaners did not want that liquid to be put back in the machines because it used a strong
    dye, so as a practical matter the test liquid, which contained about 25 percent PCE, was
    poured down the drain.
    D. Contamination of Soils, Groundwater and Wells in Modesto
    Defendants do not dispute that the soils at many dry cleaning sites in Modesto are
    contaminated by PCE. It is also not the subject of serious dispute that this contamination
    8
    has dispersed through the subsurface and into the groundwater at many sites. PCE
    contamination can enter a municipal supply well by migrating with the groundwater
    generally according to the natural gradient, but when it is near a well, it will come within
    the “cone of draw” and will be captured and pumped into the well.
    The residents of Modesto rely on groundwater wells to produce most of their
    potable water. The City is served by a network of 90 wells designed to serve specific
    neighborhoods, and operating interdependently. PCE has been detected in four of the
    City’s wells, and two were removed from service after exceeding the state-mandated
    MCL. If a well is taken off-line, nearby wells are required to pump at greater capacity
    and the contamination plume is likely to migrate to those wells. The parties dispute
    whether and when the third and fourth wells (or additional wells) will exceed the MCL
    for PCE.
    This action was filed as a result of the PCE contamination from the dry cleaning
    sites in Modesto.
    III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
    A. Overview
    The original complaint was filed in 1998 and final judgment was not entered until
    2012. The record filed on appeal—which is not the complete record of the proceedings
    below—contains reporters’ transcripts exceeding 15,000 pages, and 25,000 pages of
    court filings exhibits, and deposition transcripts. This case has followed a complex and
    tortuous path, each step of which need not, and will not, be chronicled. We provide here
    only a brief summary of the procedural events out of which the issues before us arose.
    B. The Parties to the Appeal
    The City of Modesto is a plaintiff and the principal appellant. The RDA also filed
    a separate action, which was consolidated with the City’s action. In 2012, however, the
    legislature effectively dissolved all redevelopment agencies. (§ 34172.) The City
    became the RDA’s “successor agency” by operation of law (§ 34173), and pursues the
    RDA’s appeal, together with the City Attorney of Modesto who, representing the People
    of the State of California, seeks a nuisance injunction. The Modesto Sewer District No. 1
    9
    was also a plaintiff and a cross-defendant but is involved in this appeal only with respect
    to the cost award entered against it. For ease of reference we will refer to all plaintiffs as
    “the City.”
    The operative complaints named 28 defendants. Along the way, however, most
    of the defendants settled, and there now remain only five active participants. They are:
    two dry cleaning establishments, Modesto Steam Laundry (MSL) and Estate of Shantilal
    Jamnadas, dba Halford’s Cleaners (Halford’s); two PCE manufacturers, the Dow
    Chemical Company (Dow) and Axiall Corporation, the successor in interest to PPG
    Industries, Inc. (PPG); and one PCE distributor, R.R. Street & Company (Street), which
    also manufactured some equipment used by the dry cleaners. Dow is the sole cross-
    appellant on the issue of punitive damages.
    C. The Pleadings
    The first complaints were filed in 1998, one by the RDA and the City Attorney (on
    behalf of the People), and the other by the City of Modesto and its Sewer District.
    Named in the action were dry cleaning establishments, distributors and manufacturers of
    PCE, and manufacturers of dry cleaning equipment. After three years of demurrers and
    amendments, the operative pleadings were settled upon. In essence, the RDA, the
    People, the City and the Sewer District were suing 28 defendants for their roles in
    polluting the soil, the groundwater and the sewer system in Modesto with chlorinated
    solvents. The causes of action alleged against defendants included: negligence, products
    liability, statutory liability, trespass and nuisance. The two actions were consolidated.
    Various defendants cross-complained against the City and the Sewer district for
    contribution, indemnity and declaratory relief. Defendants did not prevail on any of the
    cross-complaints.
    D. The Summary Adjudication Motions
    Shortly after the pleadings were settled, Dow, PPG and others filed a motion for
    summary adjudication on the nuisance and trespass claims. Four and a half months and
    7,000 pages later, the motion was granted as to Dow and PPG. The trial court ruled that
    liability for nuisance required evidence that the defendants had control over the solvent
    10
    use and disposal activities of the dry cleaner or “direct involvement . . . in the design and
    installation of unsafe disposal systems or dry cleaning equipment;” it was not enough for
    plaintiffs to prove that the manufacturers were aware of the hazards of solvents and
    provided “insufficient or inaccurate instructions and warnings . . . concerning the[ir] use,
    handling and disposal….” The City filed a petition for writ of mandate in this court
    seeking interlocutory review of the ruling; the petition was summarily denied.
    Dow, PPG and others then filed a motion for summary adjudication of the RDA’s
    statutory claim under the Polanco Act. The Polanco Act provides, by reference to the
    Water Code, that those who “discharge[] waste” or “cause or permit any waste to be
    discharged or deposited where it is, or probably will be, discharged into the waters of the
    state and creates, or threatens to create, a condition of pollution or nuisance” are liable for
    costs associated with cleaning up the pollution. (§ 33459, subd. (h); Wat. Code § 13304.)
    The trial court granted the motion as to Dow and PPG, again concluding that plaintiffs’
    evidence did not show that these defendants “either directly participated in or exercised
    authority or control over on-site activities or disposal activities at Modesto dry cleaners.”
    The City again filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking review of the trial
    court’s order. We granted the petition, vacated the trial court’s ruling and remanded the
    matter for a new hearing on the motion. (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 
    119 Cal. App. 4th 28
    .) Our
    opinion will be discussed in detail below. For now, it is sufficient to say we concluded
    that the Polanco Act should be construed in keeping with principles of nuisance; that in
    keeping with those principles, liability is not limited to those who directly participate in
    or have control over discharges but also includes those who assist in creating the
    pollution; and that a defendant who provides instructions to users regarding the improper
    disposal of toxic chemicals can therefore be liable under the Act.
    On remand, the court denied Dow and PPG’s summary adjudication motion on the
    Polanco Act claim. Plaintiffs then requested the court to reconsider its ruling on the
    nuisance motion in light of Modesto I. The court ruled there was no basis for
    reconsideration because this court had previously denied the petition for a writ of
    11
    mandate on the nuisance summary adjudication ruling. Plaintiffs contend the denial of
    the reconsideration motion was error.
    E. The Phase I Jury Trial
    In an effort to manage this complex action, the parties agreed to try in the first two
    phases only those issues pertaining to the contamination of four City wells, identified by
    their numbers (3, 8, 21 and 225) and all of the City’s claims against four dry cleaners,
    including MSL and Halford’s. Three of those dry cleaners were alleged to be the source
    of contamination at Wells 3, 8 and 21. Two other dry cleaner defendants were included
    but only the well-related claims (Well 225) were to be tried in Phase One.
    Prior to trial, defendants filed motion in limine number 40 (MIL 40) seeking to bar
    the testimony of plaintiffs’ expert, Anthony Brown, relating to anticipated future
    remediation costs which plaintiffs sought to recover as damages. Defendants argued that
    these claims (1) were too speculative, (2) did not involve any damage to City property,
    and (3) were foreclosed by federal and state “superfund” statutes.2 The trial court granted
    the motion on the first and third grounds. The City argued this ruling was erroneous.3
    After a four-month trial, the trial court granted a nonsuit on all claims relating to
    Well 8 and granted a nonsuit to Dow and PPG as to the claims relating to Well 225. As
    pertinent to this appeal, the jury awarded plaintiffs damages of over $3 million against
    various defendants resulting from the contamination at three sites (Modesto Steam
    Laundry, Ideal and Coffee Plaza) and found against Street and a solvent manufacturer
    (Vulcan) on the City’s public nuisance claim at Coffee Plaza. The jury also found against
    Dow, Street and Vulcan on the issue of malice, and, awarded punitive damages of
    $75,000 against Street, $75 million against Dow, and $100 million against Vulcan.
    2
    The federal statute is the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
    Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.). The
    California superfund law is the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account
    Act (HSAA) (§ 25300 et seq.).
    3
    The City withdrew this issue as a ground for appeal in its reply brief, having
    noted that defendants did not dispute that their preemption argument would not apply to a
    public nuisance injunction, and did not contest the City’s authorities to that effect.
    12
    Dow, Street and Vulcan filed motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict
    (JNOV) with respect to malice, contending it was not supported by substantial evidence.
    Dow, Street and PPG also argued, in JNOV motions, there was insufficient proof of
    causation to support the verdict. These motions were denied. Dow and Vulcan also
    sought a new trial with respect to the amount of punitive damages. The trial court
    reduced the awards to $5,441,221 against Dow and $7,254,115 against Vulcan, ruling
    that this was the maximum allowed both under the federal constitution and in light of the
    evidence. The trial court conditioned the denial of a new trial on the City’s acceptance of
    the reduced amounts.
    Dow contends the jury’s findings regarding malice were not supported by
    substantial evidence. The City argues the punitive damages should not have been
    reduced.
    F. The Phase II Court Trial
    In the next phase, the parties introduced additional evidence related to the City’s
    statutory claims, which were tried to the court. With respect to the Polanco Act claim
    relating to the MSL site, based on the entire evidentiary record of Phases I and II, the trial
    court found in favor of the RDA and against Dow, PPG, Street and MSL. It awarded
    $88,143 for regulatory oversight charges and $349,808 in “response costs.” The court
    also ordered that the final judgment include an injunction requiring the defendants to
    comply with any future remediation orders from the state’s Department of Toxic
    Substances Control (DTSC) or the Regional Water Quality Control Board (the Board) at
    the Modesto Steam Laundry site, “subject to the right to challenge such orders in this
    Court. . . .” On the HSAA (state “superfund” statute) claims against MSL and Halford’s,
    the court found against the dry cleaners; it awarded the City its response costs and
    directed the entry of equitable relief in the final judgment.
    G. The Phase III Jury Trial
    In Phase III, the City sought damages under negligence and strict liability theories
    for contamination of City property (groundwater and soil in street and sewer easements)
    at the remaining dry cleaner sites. Before the case went to the jury, however, the trial
    13
    court granted a directed verdict as to 14 sites. The court ruled that, as to those sites, the
    City had not proven its appropriative interest in groundwater had suffered a present
    injury, as opposed to a possible future injury, and that the City had not proven any
    damage to its sewers, streets or soil. The City contends this ruling was erroneous.
    As pertinent to this appeal, the jury found Dow and PPG liable on at least one
    product liability claim at the group of sites referred to as “Elwood’s” and awarded the
    City $320,000 in investigation costs and $18 million for future costs for remediation.
    Defendants, however, had raised a statute of limitations defense with respect to those
    sites. The jury found that the City’s claimed harm at the Elwood’s sites occurred before
    December 3, 1995 (three years prior to the filing of the complaint), but the jury could not
    agree on the factual question pertaining to the discovery rule.
    The jury rejected plaintiffs’ claim of malice against Dow.
    Post-trial, the City moved for JNOV as to the finding that the harm at Elwood’s
    had accrued before December 3, 1995. The City argued, in essence, that defendants had
    failed to provide the necessary expert testimony to support that finding. The trial court
    denied the motion, concluding the record as a whole was sufficient to support the finding.
    The City challenges this ruling on appeal.
    Defendants, for their part, brought a motion for judgment on their statute of
    limitations claim, pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure section 630, subdivision (f).
    After this court issued an alternative writ instructing the trial court to take action on the
    motion, the court granted the motion based upon the jury’s finding that the harm at
    Elwood’s had accrued outside of the three-year statute of limitations. The court also
    ruled that the City could not rely on the delayed discovery rule because it failed to prove
    that it did not discover the harm until after December 1995.
    As a result of the pre- and post-trial rulings, the City recovered nothing in the
    Phase III jury trial.
    H. The Phase IV Court Trial
    In the follow-on to Phase III, the parties submitted additional evidence pertaining
    to the Polanco Act claim with respect to five sites. As will be described in detail later in
    14
    this opinion, the court ruled in favor of defendants. The City contends the court erred in
    applying an improper causation standard for the Polanco Act claim.
    I. The Phase V Court Trial
    Finally, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing to determine whether,
    considering events transpiring since the Phase II decision, the equitable relief ordered in
    Phase II with respect to the MSL and Halford’s sites was still warranted. The trial court
    found that, due to the EPA taking responsibility for clean-up at Halford’s, the clean-up
    work already accomplished at MSL, the filtration treatment being conducted at Well 3,
    and the availability of settlement funds, no equitable relief was warranted. The City also
    challenges this ruling.
    J. The Remaining Rulings and Entry of Judgment
    In preparation for entry of judgment, the trial court issued orders on a number of
    outstanding issues. As pertinent here, the court allocated settlement credits and
    concluded that Dow, PPG and Street were entitled to full credit for their liability against
    the approximately $37 million in settlements, excluding the punitive damages award.
    The trial court also decided, as to each set of trial phases, who was the prevailing party
    and entered judgment.
    Defendants moved to set aside the judgment, arguing that they were prevailing
    parties in Phase II, as a matter of law, because in Phase V the court denied any equitable
    relief with respect to the Phase II liability determination. The trial court agreed and
    entered an amended judgment.
    After extensive post-judgment activity, the trial court entered an order against the
    City for payment of a portion of defendants’ costs.
    The City contends that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to enter an amended
    judgment and that the rulings on the settlement credits and (in the amended judgment) on
    the prevailing party in Phase II were erroneous.
    K. On Appeal
    On appeal, the City proposes a wholly new argument and remedy. It asks us, in
    the event we reverse the summary adjudication in favor of Dow and PPG on the nuisance
    15
    causes of action, to direct the trial court to issue an injunction that would: “(1) compel
    Dow and PPG to comply with any and all PCE remediation or investigation orders issued
    by appropriate officials of the City of Modesto . . . ; [¶] (2) limit Dow and PPG’s
    obligations under such orders to remediation or investigation steps not already in
    progress, and that are not subject to any applicable settlement funds Modesto received in
    this litigation; [¶] (3) authorize such orders in connection with any dry cleaning site in
    Modesto; [¶] (4) provide that Dow and PPG’s obligations under such orders shall be joint
    and several at all sites unless the superior court determines otherwise on a proper
    showing; [¶] (5) specify that Dow and PPG shall comply promptly and fully with such
    orders notwithstanding any right they may have, or claim to have, to seek contribution,
    indemnity, or similar remedies from any other party; and [¶] (6) provide that any and all
    factual disputes arising in connection with the injunction shall be referred in the first
    instance to a special master or referee to be appointed by the superior court, either by
    consent or pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. § 639, subd. (a)(3) (‘question of fact’).”
    Because of the pretrial summary adjudication orders, the City could not seek this
    injunction in the trial court, but it contends our authority extends to fashioning this relief
    in the first instance. It relies on Code of Civil Procedure section 43, which authorizes
    appellate courts to “affirm, reverse, or modify any judgment or order appealed from,” and
    to “direct the proper judgment or order to be entered, or direct a new trial or further
    proceedings to be had,” and upon similar language in Code of Civil Procedure
    section 906.4 The City argues that the injunction it seeks lies within our “ ‘inherent
    powers . . . to insure the orderly administration of justice.’ [Citation.]” (Walker v.
    Superior Court (1991) 
    53 Cal. 3d 257
    , 266.) It also contends Dow and PPG are estopped
    4
    Code of Civil Procedure section 906 provides that in a civil appeal, “the
    reviewing court may review the verdict or decision and any intermediate ruling,
    proceeding, order or decision which involves the merits or necessarily affects the
    judgment or order appealed from or which substantially affects the rights of a party, . . .
    and may affirm, reverse or modify any judgment or order appealed from and may direct
    the proper judgment or order to be entered, and may, if necessary or proper, direct a new
    trial or further proceedings to be had.”
    16
    to contest an injunctive remedy because they took the position below that a public
    nuisance injunction was “the only proper remedy.”
    In the circumstances of this case, we are not persuaded that we may properly order
    the trial court to issue the injunction the City seeks. The nuisance causes of action
    against Dow and PPG have yet to be adjudicated, and the trial court has made no findings
    or determined any appropriate remedy. The City argues that the undisputed facts support
    a public nuisance injunction. Whether or not that is so, we cannot say that the undisputed
    facts compel the specific remedy the City seeks. And in any case, our role on appeal is to
    review the trial court’s actions. As explained in Quantification Settlement Agreement
    Cases (2011) 
    201 Cal. App. 4th 758
    , 844, “ ‘[T]he ordinary and widely accepted meaning
    of the term “appellate jurisdiction” is simply the power of a reviewing court to correct
    error in a trial court proceeding.’ [Citation.] ‘An appeal is not a trial but simply a
    method given litigants of rectifying errors, legal or factual, that may have occurred at a
    preceding hearing generally referred to as a trial. An appellate court is a reviewing court,
    and (except in special cases where original jurisdiction is conferred upon it) not a trial
    court or court of first instance. The jurisdiction of an appellate tribunal is generally
    confined to the correction of errors committed in the trial court . . . .’ [Citation.]” In
    Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases the court determined that the trial court had
    erred in dismissing two actions under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
    (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), but declined to adjudicate the merits of those
    actions, noting that the trial court had not reached the merits and that the plaintiffs “have
    not proven to our satisfaction that we are authorized to do so in the exercise of our
    appellate jurisdiction under the circumstances presented here.” (Ibid.; see also Center for
    Biological Diversity v. Department of Fish & Wildlife (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 452, 465
    [appellate court’s authority extends to affirmance or reversal and modification of
    judgment or order].)
    The City’s reliance on Waste Management of the Desert, Inc. v. Palm Springs
    Recycling Center, Inc. (1994) 
    7 Cal. 4th 478
    (Waste Management) is unavailing. The
    plaintiffs in Waste Management sought an injunction against the defendant, prohibiting it
    17
    from collecting recyclable materials within the city limits of Rancho Mirage, and the
    defendant filed a cross-complaint seeking, inter alia, an injunction prohibiting the city
    from enforcing an ordinance forbidding anyone except the plaintiff from collecting such
    materials. (Id. at pp. 482-483.) The trial court granted the plaintiff’s injunction, and the
    Court of Appeal reversed, concluding state law did not authorize the city to grant an
    exclusive franchise for the collection and removal of recyclable materials that were not
    placed into containers maintained by the city or its authorized waste collector or
    otherwise “discarded” by the owner. (Id. at p. 484.) The appellate court directed the trial
    court to issue an injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing the ordinance against the
    defendant with respect to recyclable materials that had not been turned over to the city or
    its agent. (Id. at p. 490.) The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of
    Appeal but, based on its narrower view of the right of the owner of recyclables to discard
    them, directed the appellate court to direct the trial court to issue a narrower injunction.
    (Id. at p. 491.) Thus, in Waste Management, the reviewing court properly directed the
    trial court to prohibit a governmental entity from enforcing an ordinance to the extent it
    conflicted with state law, after the matter had been litigated in the trial court. That case
    does not stand for the proposition that an appellate court may direct the trial court to enter
    a mandatory injunction on a cause of action that has not yet been litigated, and directing
    equitable relief upon which the trial court has not yet had occasion to exercise its
    discretion. (See Mendez v. Rancho Valencia Resort Partners, LLC (2016) 3 Cal.App.5th
    248, 260 [permanent injunction is determination that plaintiff has prevailed and equitable
    relief is appropriate]; Shapiro v. San Diego City Council (2002) 
    96 Cal. App. 4th 904
    , 912
    [trial court’s decision to grant permanent injunction rests within its sound discretion].)
    The City cites POET, LLC v. State Air Resources Board (2017) 12 Cal.App.5th 52
    as support for its requested remedy but that case is inapposite. There, the Air Resources
    Board failed to comply with a writ of mandate the appellate court directed to be issued
    requiring that it comply with CEQA in promulgating certain regulations. (Id. at pp. 79-
    83.) The court also found that the Board, in failing to comply with the writ, had not acted
    in good faith. (Id. at pp. 99-100.) The appellate court therefore took the unusual step of
    18
    providing detailed orders to clarify the scope and meaning of the writ of mandate
    because, a reversal with a “generic” order reinstating the original writ “would give rise to
    disputes between the parties over how the writ’s provisions should be applied to the
    further proceedings.” (Id. at p. 88.) The court enumerated the probable disputes and
    concluded that “(1) a simple reversal with directions for [the Board] to comply with the
    writ is not appropriate and (2) further orders are needed to clarify matters.” (Ibid.) Thus,
    the court in POET was not adjudicating any matters in the first instance—as we are being
    requested to do—but was clarifying what would constitute compliance with the terms of
    the writ of mandate, and has no application here.
    While we decline the City’s invitation that we craft and direct the trial court to
    impose a particular form of injunctive relief, we also note that the City’s proposal could,
    at least theoretically, provide an elegant framework for resolving this matter and avoiding
    lengthy further proceedings. Counsel have understandably expressed frustration with the
    protracted litigation and the lengthy delays that have beset this matter, and to that we add
    our own concerns about our already overburdened courts. We, accordingly, strongly
    encourage the parties to consider any and all creative approaches that might put an end to
    the litigation.5
    Finally, nothing we say is intended to prevent the City from urging the trial court
    to impose the injunction it seeks here, or from relying on any admissions Dow and PPG
    might have made in the course of the litigation that a nuisance abatement injunction
    would be a proper remedy.
    5
    More specifically, it appears to us that if this decision becomes final there will
    be a finite number of sites at which remediation issues need to be addressed and, although
    the experts in an adversarial setting were far apart in their approaches and cost estimates,
    these differences are not so great as to be incapable of reconciliation or compromise.
    This critical juncture in the case may present the opportune moment for the experts, the
    parties and counsel to craft a structured, yet flexible settlement that could include an
    expeditious fact-finding process.
    19
    L. Organization of Issues on Appeal
    It is common in cases such as this one, where the issues unfold over a lengthy set
    of proceedings below, to address the issues on appeal in the order in which they arose
    below, primarily because it provides an easy-to-follow temporal framework. In this case,
    however, we will organize the opinion by addressing, first, the issue that requires the
    most in-depth discussion—the question of the proper standard of causation to be used for
    Polanco Act claims. The remaining charges of error, which, with a few exceptions, are
    not substantively or legally interrelated, will be discussed in what we hope is a logical
    progression.
    IV. DISCUSSION
    A. Modesto I and the Causation Standard
    Plaintiffs contend that in the Phase IV Polanco Act bench trial, the court erred in
    applying an exceptionally stringent standard of causation based on its erroneous
    interpretation of Modesto I. We agree and our analysis follows.
    1. The Precise Issue on Appeal
    The judge in Phase IV concluded, based on his reading of Modesto I, that liability
    under the Polanco Act could be established only by direct proof of each link in a very
    specific chain of causation. The City challenges that conclusion and makes a cogent
    argument that its application was prejudicial. In response, defendants endorse the legal
    standard applied by the court but do not argue that, if there was error, prejudice was not
    shown. Further, the parties did not brief, and we are not asked to decide whether the
    evidence presented in Phases III and IV of the trial would support a finding in the City’s
    favor if a different causation and proof standard had been applied. Consequently, we
    address only the narrow legal question presented, viz., whether the trial court applied an
    incorrect causation standard. Because this question is a purely legal one, we apply a de
    novo standard of review. (Orange County Water District v. MAG Aerospace Industries,
    Inc. (2017) 12 Cal.App.5th 229, 240.)
    2. The Polanco Act
    20
    We begin our discussion with a summary of the Polanco Act and then provide a
    more detailed description of how that law was interpreted in Modesto I.
    The trial court aptly summarized the Act’s core provisions. “ ‘The Polanco Act
    involves cleanup of the release of hazardous substances in the context of a redevelopment
    project.’ [Citation.] Subject to certain statutory conditions, the Act authorizes a
    redevelopment agency to ‘take any actions that the agency determines are necessary . . .
    to remedy or remove a release of hazardous substances on, under, or from property within
    a project area, whether the agency owns the property or not….’ [Citation.] If an agency
    takes such action, ‘any responsible party or parties shall be liable to the [ ] agency for the
    costs incurred in the action.’ [Citation.] An action for cost recovery under the Act ‘is in
    addition to, and is not to be construed as restricting, any other cause of action available to
    a redevelopment agency.’ [Citation.]” Thus, under the Polanco Act, a redevelopment
    agency is entitled to recover from “any responsible party or parties” the costs it incurs “to
    remedy or remove, or to require others to remedy or remove . . . a release of hazardous
    substance” including “compelling a responsible party through a civil action, to remedy or
    remove a release of hazardous substance.” (§ 33459.4, subd. (a).)
    The term “responsible party” is defined by reference to two other laws. First, the
    Act incorporates a provision of the HSAA (§ 25323.5, subd. (a)(1)), which, in turn,
    incorporates CERCLA’s definition of “covered persons” for purposes of liability
    (42 U.S.C. § 9607(a)).6 The City does not contend defendants (other than the dry
    cleaners themselves) fall within that definition. Second, the statute incorporates section
    13304, subdivision (a) of the Water Code which provides, in pertinent part, that any
    person who “has caused or permitted, causes or permits, or threatens to cause or permit
    6
    The federal statute provides that four categories of persons or entities are, in
    essence, strictly liable for clean-up costs resulting from hazardous substances: (1) those
    who own or operate the facility; (2) those who previously owned or operated the facility
    when the hazardous substances were released; (3) those who arranged for disposal or
    treatment, or for transportation for disposal or treatment, of the hazardous substances
    found at a treatment facility; and (4) those who accepted hazardous substances for
    transport, disposal or treatment at a site chosen by that person, that results in a release or
    threatened release. (42 U.S.C. § 9607(a).)
    21
    any waste to be discharged or deposited where it is, or probably will be, discharged into
    the waters of the state and creates, or threatens to create, a condition of pollution or
    nuisance” shall be responsible for remedial action. It is this definition that was the
    subject of our prior opinion in this matter.
    3. The Modesto I Decision
    Early on in this case, the manufacturer defendants filed a motion for summary
    adjudication of the Polanco Act and negligence per se claims. They argued they were not
    “responsible parties” under the Polanco Act because they neither themselves discharged
    the PCE nor did they control any site where the discharges occurred. The trial court
    granted the motion, ruling that the manufacturers were not “responsible parties” under the
    statute because in order for a party to “cause” a discharge “you have to have some sort of
    physical control or the ability to stop it from happening.” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119
    Cal.App.4th at p. 36.) Plaintiffs filed a petition for writ of mandate in this court, which
    we granted because we disagreed with the trial court’s conclusion that only those who
    physically engage in a discharge or who control the waste disposal activities of others are
    liable under the Polanco Act.
    In the decision, we first rehearsed the statutory language. As we have already
    described, the Polanco Act defines “responsible parties” by reference to Water Code
    section 13304, which provides: “A person . . . who has caused or permitted, causes or
    permits, or threatens to cause or permit any waste to be discharged or deposited where it
    is, or probably will be, discharged into the waters of the state and creates, or threatens to
    create, a condition of pollution or nuisance, shall . . . clean up the waste or . . . take other
    necessary remedial action . . . .” We therefore began our analysis by asking whether the
    word “cause” refers to “a party who was directly involved with a discharge, to anyone
    whose actions were a substantial factor in causing the discharge, or even, as city argued
    below, to anyone who places a hazardous substance into the chain of commerce.”
    (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 37.)
    To answer that question we noted, first, that environmental legislation by which
    government exercises its traditional power to regulate public nuisances should be
    22
    construed in light of common law principles bearing on nuisance, citing Leslie Salt Co. v.
    San Francisco Bay Conservation etc. Com. (1984) 
    153 Cal. App. 3d 605
    . Determining
    that the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Wat. Code § 13000 et seq.) was in
    fact such a legislative scheme (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at pp. 37-38), we
    identified certain principles which would govern our construction of the statute.
    The first principle, which has “long been the law in California,” is that “ ‘ “[n]ot
    only is the party who maintains the nuisance liable but also the party or parties who
    create or assist in its creation are responsible for the ensuing damages.” ’ [Citation.]”
    (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 38.) Thus, “liability for nuisance does not hinge
    on whether the defendant owns, possesses or controls the property, nor on whether he is
    in a position to abate the nuisance; the critical question is whether the defendant created
    or assisted in the creation of the nuisance. [Citation.]” (Ibid.)
    Our second principle was a limiting one. We concluded that, “[w]hile liability for
    nuisance is broad, . . . it is not unlimited” and the “City of San Diego [v. U.S. Gypsum Co.
    (1994) 
    30 Cal. App. 4th 575
    ] established one important limitation.” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    ,
    119 Cal.App.4th at p. 39, fn. omitted.) In that case the city sued the manufacturers,
    distributors and suppliers of asbestos-containing building materials that had contaminated
    the city’s buildings, seeking recovery, inter alia, under a nuisance theory for the costs of
    abatement. The court concluded that the city could not maintain an action based on
    nuisance where it is seeking recovery for a defective product, because it would convert
    almost every products liability action into a nuisance claim. (Ibid.) The court affirmed
    the summary adjudication in favor of the defendants because it was “ ‘a products liability
    action in the guise of a nuisance action’ [citation].” (Ibid.) We agreed with that
    conclusion, expressing the view that the law of nuisance “is not intended to serve as a
    surrogate for ordinary products liability.” (Ibid. fn. omitted.)
    We then proceeded to the next question: Whether, in this case, “the Polanco Act
    claims fall within the realm of nuisance or of products liability;” that is, “has city
    presented evidence that the defendants assisted in the creation of a nuisance, or only that
    they produced or supplied defective products?” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at
    23
    pp. 39-40 [emphasis added].) We looked first to Selma Pressure Treating Co. v. Osmose
    Wood Preserving Co. (1990) 
    221 Cal. App. 3d 1601
    (Selma), disapproved on other
    grounds in Johnson v. American Standard, Inc. (2008) 
    43 Cal. 4th 56
    , 70. There, the State
    and the Regional Water Quality Control Board sued the operators of a wood treatment
    facility, alleging they improperly disposed of hazardous waste. The plaintiff sought,
    among other things, damages flowing from a nuisance. 
    (Selma, supra
    , 221 Cal.App.3d at
    p. 1606.) The defendants cross-complained against the company that designed the wood
    treatment technique, installed the equipment, provided training and made
    recommendations on operations that resulted in the wood-treating chemicals being
    deposited into soil overlying an aquifer. Other cross-defendants were chemical suppliers
    that provided “assistance and advice” and knew or should have known that the disposal
    could threaten the safety of the water supply, but failed to warn of those risks.7 (Id. at pp.
    1607, 1609.) The court concluded that both were potentially liable as persons who
    created or assisted in creating the nuisance. The designer and installer could be liable
    because it had direct involvement in creating the disposal system by which the waste
    products were discharged into an unlined dirt pond, which could threaten the water
    supply. (Id. at p. 1620.) The court also held that the chemical companies could be held
    liable if plaintiffs proved their allegations that “the [operators] were foreseeable users;
    disposal of the chemical residue was a foreseeable use of the product; the chemical
    companies knew or should have known of the dangers of improper disposal of the
    chemicals; the owners did not know of those dangers; the companies failed to warn of the
    dangers; and that failure to warn was a substantial factor in causing the damage. 
    (Selma, supra
    , 221 Cal.App.3d at pp. 1621-1624.)” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 40.)
    We agreed with the first conclusion—“that those who create or assist in creating a
    system that causes hazardous wastes to be disposed of improperly, or who instruct users
    to dispose of wastes improperly, can be liable under the law of nuisance.” (Modesto I,
    7
    The “assistance and advice” alleged to have been received from the chemical
    suppliers is not described in the opinion and, as we describe below, it does not play any
    part in the court’s liability analysis or its 
    holding. 24 supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at pp. 40-41.) Citing plaintiffs’ evidence that some of the
    defendants instructed the dry cleaners to set up their equipment in a way that water
    containing PCE would be discharged directly into drains and sewers, and other
    defendants “gave dry cleaners instructions to dispose of spilled PERC on or in the
    ground,” we concluded, “these kinds of affirmative acts or instructions could support a
    finding that those defendants assisted in creating a nuisance, and therefore would defeat a
    summary adjudication motion on the Polanco Act cause of action.” (Id. at p. 41.)
    Defendants had argued that liability should be limited to those who “controlled
    either the discharge activity or the premises where the discharge occurred” citing to a
    number of State Water Resources Control Board decisions. We rejected that argument
    because the Board’s decisions did not address “the responsibility of a party that instructs
    users to dispose of hazardous wastes in an unsafe manner or a party that creates a system
    that would result in improper disposal of hazardous wastes.” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119
    Cal.App.4th at p. 41.) We also pointed out that the State Board has concluded that even a
    relatively minor contribution to a discharge may support a finding of responsibility, citing
    In re County of San Diego (Order No. WQ 96-2, Feb. 22, 1996) 1996 Cal. ENV LEXIS at
    p. *14 (Cal.St.Wat.Res.Bd.).
    At the other end of the spectrum, the City had argued that liability for nuisance can
    be fixed by proving only that defendants manufactured and sold solvents to dry cleaners
    with knowledge of the hazards of those substances and without alerting the dry cleaners
    to proper methods of disposal. (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 42.) We
    rejected that contention as well. We reasoned that “failure to warn [is] not an activity
    directly connected with the disposal of solvents. In our view, such behavior is analogous
    to the manufacture, distribution, and supplying of asbestos-containing materials in City of
    San Diego [v. U.S. Gypsum Co. (1994) 
    30 Cal. App. 4th 575
    ]; it does not fall within the
    context of nuisance, but is better analyzed through the law of negligence or products
    liability, which have well-developed precedents to determine liability for failure to warn.
    [Citations.]” (Ibid.)
    25
    We, accordingly, held that “those who took affirmative steps directed toward the
    improper discharge of solvent wastes—for instance, by manufacturing a system designed
    to dispose of wastes improperly or by instructing users of its products to dispose of
    wastes improperly—may be liable under [(Wat. Code § 13304, subd (a))] but those who
    merely placed solvents in the stream of commerce without warning adequately of the
    dangers of improper disposal are not liable under that section of the [code].” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 43, emphasis added.) We issued a writ of mandate directing
    the superior court to reconsider defendants’ motion for summary adjudication of the
    Polanco Act and negligence per se claims “in accordance with the views expressed
    herein.” (Id. at p. 45.)
    4. Defendants’ Interpretation of Modesto I is Rejected
    On remand, the trial court reconsidered the matter, and issued a tentative decision
    denying the motion. The court explained: “[With regard to t]he solvent manufacturer
    defendants, the Court of Appeal instructed that simply placing this material in the stream
    of commerce without warnings would not be enough, . . . but if there were affirmative
    steps taken by the solvent manufacturers directed towards improper discharges, then that
    would be enough.” The trial court found that plaintiffs had produced sufficient evidence
    to raise fact questions as to whether the manufacturers would be responsible parties under
    the Polanco Act.8 Seeking to convince the court otherwise, defendants argued that the
    8
    For context, here are examples of the instructions and guidance that was
    provided by Dow for disposal of PCE and PCE waste. Material Safety Data Sheets
    (MSDS’s) were given to dry cleaners through distributors when they purchased PCE. In
    1971 the MSDS’s instructed users to flush large spills to the ground and to mop up small
    spills and bury them. Throughout the rest of the 1970’s, the MSDS’s instructed that if
    there were “small leaks” of PCE the user should “[m]op up, wipe up or soak up
    immediately. Remove to out of doors.” The “disposal method” prescribed for PCE was
    to send it to a reclaimer, but “[i]n some cases it can be transported to an area where it can
    be placed on the ground and allowed to evaporate safely.” Similar instructions regarding
    “small leaks” were provided in MSDS’s issued in the 1980’s. In that period, however,
    the MSDS’s “strongly discouraged” dumping unused PCE “into sewers, on the ground or
    into any body of water.” Dow’s “Dry Cleaning: A Basic Handbook DOWPER Solvents
    for the ‘80s,” providing “information and instruction” about solvent and dry cleaning
    26
    Modesto I opinion addressed “only the first question in the chain of causation that has to
    be established;” the plaintiffs must also prove, they contended, that the instructions were
    received by the dry cleaners, that the dry cleaners acted in response to those instructions,
    and that their actions in response to the instructions were actions that caused the
    contamination. It was defendants’ position that because Modesto I required an
    “affirmative step[] . . . directed toward improper discharge,” this was a “special
    circumstance . . . where the Court of Appeal did not accept the idea that substantial factor
    itself was sufficient for liability under nuisance or under the Polanco Act.” Hence,
    defendants argued, instead of the standard substantial factor causation test, the plaintiffs
    must prove the instruction gets to the dry cleaner, “[t]he dry cleaner looks at it, acts on it
    and causes the contamination.”
    The trial court pointed out, however, that the question before it was not whether it
    could make findings on causation, but only whether there were sufficient facts that would
    “rationally allow a juror” to make such findings. Rejecting defendants’ arguments, the
    trial court affirmed its tentative ruling, concluding that, under the standard articulated in
    Modesto I, a reasonable juror could find a violation of the Polanco Act based on the
    evidence before the court.9
    Defendants renewed their Modesto I causation theory at closing argument in the
    first Polanco Act trial (Phase II). Relying on the word “cause” in the Water Code,
    defendants argued: “Causation is built right into this. So in order to find liability under
    that Water Code section, not only do you have to start with an instruction that’s improper,
    equipment, was among the literature distributed not just to customers, but also at trade
    shows, seminars and by mail. In the discussion on equipment, these handbooks indicate
    that contact water from the water separator is “drawn off and discarded.”
    9
    In their Phase I trial brief (on the strict liability and negligence claims)
    defendants made a similar causation argument. They argued the manufacturer had to be
    directly linked to a release of its product, thence to the pollution. Defendants repeated
    that argument in a motion for nonsuit, in closing argument to the jury, and yet again in
    motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Neither the jury nor the judge were
    persuaded.
    27
    you have to get it to the site, somebody has to follow it, a release has to occur as a result,
    and that release has to cause the contamination that’s at issue.” Defendants insisted that
    this was precisely what Modesto I required.
    The trial court again rejected defendants’ interpretation of Modesto I. The judge
    identified the “critical inquiry” as “whether the defendants’ [PCE manufacturers’]
    actions, taken as a whole, ‘created or assisted in the creation of the nuisance.’ ” As that
    court explained, “[t]he appellate Court cited the giving of ‘instructions’ as an example of
    something that may ‘assist in the creation’ of a nuisance, but did not suggest that this is
    the only conduct that would qualify.” The court noted that Modesto I identified one
    limitation on the otherwise broad liability for nuisance viz., that the law of nuisance is not
    intended to serve as a surrogate for ordinary products liability. It then reasoned: If
    “ ‘defendants who fail to warn of the dangers of improper disposal of hazardous materials
    but give no guidance or instructions pertaining to that disposal [pose] a more difficult
    question’ [citing Modesto I],” then “[d]efendants who do give ‘guidance or instruction’
    do not pose a difficult question—they are covered by the Act.”
    The trial court then quoted the language by which it would be guided. “ ‘[T]hose
    who took affirmative steps directed toward the improper discharge of solvent wastes—for
    instance by manufacturing a system designed to dispose of wastes improperly or by
    instructing users of its products to dispose of wastes improperly—may be liable under the
    statute, but those who merely placed solvents in the stream of commerce without warning
    adequately of the dangers of improper disposal are not liable under that section of the
    [Water Code].’ City of 
    Modesto, 119 Cal. App. 4th at 43
    (emphasis added).”
    Applying that standard, the court recited its findings: “The manufacturer defendants in
    this case did more than simply place their PCE products into the stream of commerce
    without adequate warnings. Because their PCE products were fungible, the
    manufacturers competed in the marketplace by touting their expertise, professionalism,
    and individualized services. Their customers were relatively high volume businesses that
    used substantial amounts of PCE on a daily basis, and the manufacturers encouraged
    these businesses to rely on the manufacturers’ advice, instructions and expertise. The
    28
    manufacturers published newsletters to their customers, provided technical literature to
    their customers, and trained sales personnel to promote reliance by the customers on the
    manufacturers’ expertise. [¶] …. [¶] The evidence included numerous examples of
    manufacturer instructions, advice, and guidance to customers to discharge separator
    water, which the manufacturers knew to contain PCE, into sewers, as well as to release
    waste PCE onto the ground. These kinds of recommendations were repeatedly made and
    reinforced by the manufacturers over the course of many years and led to the
    recommended PCE waste handling and disposal practices being generally followed by
    the customers. The effect of the manufacturers’ recommendations, considered both
    individually and in combination, was that risky waste handling and disposal practices
    became the norm among customers.” The court took note of the fact that a similar course
    of conduct had been found by the jury in Phase I to support liability for the creation of a
    nuisance at one of the dry cleaner sites.
    The court found, in addition, that at the time the manufacturers were holding
    themselves out as experts, they knew that PCE could cause groundwater contamination;
    that Street employees visited Modesto Steam over the course of two decades and during
    those visits poured PCE from “titration tests” into the drain; and that the manufacturers
    delayed too long in correcting their communications to their customers concerning the
    improper waste handling and disposal practices. “The record, taken as a whole,” the
    court concluded, “establishes that the manufacturer defendants are ‘responsible parties’
    under the Polanco Act . . . because they ‘created or assisted in the creation of a
    nuisance.’ ”
    5. Defendants’ Modesto I Causation Theory is Accepted
    The trial court’s rejection of defendants’ causation theory in the first Polanco Act
    trial did not deter them from making the same argument in the second Polanco Act trial,
    presided over by a different judge. Describing themselves as “remote manufacturers,”
    defendants again characterized the Modesto I opinion as setting forth a “specific
    instruction test,” which necessitated a showing of “an affirmative recommendation or
    instruction by a defendant to a dry cleaner that in turn was relied upon [] by the dry
    29
    cleaner to discharge material to the environment which in turn caused the contamination
    which occurred here.” “It’s not only whether affirmative instructions existed during that
    timeframe[,] . . . it’s whether some dry cleaner came into court and said I read that
    instruction, and I relied on that instruction, and then whether an expert said that conduct
    caused the contamination we’re talking about today.”
    The City, for its part, urged the court not to focus on the manufacturers’ disposal
    instructions in isolation but to look at the totality of defendants’ conduct over decades, in
    addition to the provision of instructions, to determine whether all of their activities in the
    marketplace, including a failure to take corrective action, could be found to have assisted
    in creating the PCE pollution, citing as an example, the findings of the judge in the Phase
    II trial. The City argued that the correct inquiry is “what did defendants do in addition to
    placing PCE into the stream of commerce without adequate warnings that would make
    this case more than simply a failure to warn case, and therefore subject defendants to
    Polanco Act [] liability?”
    In the end, the trial court agreed with defendants. Although the court accurately
    summarized the reasoning and holding of Modesto I, it interpolated into that opinion the
    proof requirements which defendants had championed. Noting that the Polanco Act
    implicitly requires proof that “defendant’s conduct caused the discharge in question,” the
    court observed that Modesto I did not spell out the “kind of factual showing a plaintiff
    must make in order to prove that a solvent manufacturer’s improper disposal
    instruction(s) caused a release of PCE. (Italics added.)” It nevertheless decided that
    specific proof requirements “follow” from Modesto I’s holding: “First, the user must
    have received the instruction(s). Second, the user must have disposed of hazardous waste
    in a manner consistent with the instruction(s). Third, the contamination for which cost
    recovery is sought under the Act must have been caused by a release mechanism
    contained in the instruction(s) and employed by the user[,] . . . since the release could
    have been caused by an operator acting independently of a defendant’s instruction(s) or
    by some other event unrelated to the actions of a defendant. Finally, with respect to the
    release of PCE, the user must have purchased the defendant’s solvent, since the
    30
    manufacturers in this case only provided PCE-related information to their customers and
    end users.”
    The trial court specifically rejected the City’s argument that the court should
    consider whether other conduct—including whether defendants touted their expertise and
    individualized services with respect to PCE and its disposal; whether defendants
    promoted reliance by their customers on defendants’ expertise; and whether, once
    defendants knew that PCE could contaminate groundwater, they failed to send out
    corrective information about disposal practices—to determine whether defendants were
    responsible parties. The court concluded that Modesto I neither requires nor even
    suggests that these factors are relevant. The court specifically rejected consideration of
    “whether Defendants’ actions, taken as a whole, created or assisted in the creation of a
    nuisance.” As we explain, this interpretation of Modesto I was incorrect.
    6. Analysis
    a. Modesto I did not address causation
    To begin with, the trial court’s focus on the provision of disposal instructions to
    the exclusion of all other potentially relevant factors is not supported by the holding of
    Modesto I. As the judge in Phase II observed, Modesto I held that “those who merely
    placed solvents in the stream of commerce without warning adequately of the dangers of
    improper disposal are not liable,” but that those who take “affirmative steps” toward the
    improper discharge of solvents can be liable. Modesto I did not preclude consideration of
    any other factors that might be relevant to the question of whether such a defendant
    “assisted in the creation of [a] nuisance.” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 38.)
    More to the point, Modesto I simply did not address the issue of how causation
    must be proven. Defendants argue that Modesto I requires proof of a special “chain of
    causation,” demonstrating by direct evidence that a specific disposal instruction was
    received, read and acted on by a specific dry cleaner, which act caused contamination at a
    specific site. In support, they cite and emphasize phrases in the Modesto I opinion
    indicating that those whose involvement in discharges is “remote and passive” or who
    have “no active involvement” in activity that is “directly connected with the disposal of
    31
    solvents” cannot be liable under the Polanco Act. But these phrases merely explain how
    we construed the term “responsible party” in the statute; they say nothing about proof of
    causation. As the trial court correctly observed, the Modesto I opinion did not address
    the quantum or nature of proof required to prove the causation element of liability. In
    short, nothing in the opinion either states or implies that any unusual or special causation
    test would apply.10
    b. The substantial factor test of causation
    Defendants also contend, however, that the substantial factor causation test
    requires this same heightened standard of proof. Defendants begin by reciting some basic
    legal principles, such as, that liability cannot be premised on a mere possibility of
    causation, nor on probabilities that are, at best, evenly balanced, nor on speculation or
    conjecture, citing Saelzler v. Advanced Group 400 (2001) 
    25 Cal. 4th 763
    , 775-776 and
    Merrill v. Navegar, Inc. (2001) 
    26 Cal. 4th 465
    , 490. No one disputes these principles.
    But this case is not akin to Saelzler, where plaintiff could not prove that additional
    security guards in a 300-unit, 28-building complex would have prevented a criminal
    assault 
    (Saelzler, supra
    , 25 Cal.4th at p. 777), or Merrill, where plaintiff provided no
    evidence either “direct or circumstantial” that the promotion and marketing of a firearm
    10
    In connection with this issue, we asked the parties to address at oral argument
    the nuisance jury instruction relied upon by the court in the Phase II Polanco Act trial,
    because the record suggested that defendants had agreed this was the applicable standard.
    As pertinent here, the instruction states, (1) the City claims “it suffered harm because one
    or more of the defendants created a public nuisance;” (2) to establish that claim the City
    must prove (inter alia) that a defendant “affirmatively instructed users to dispose of
    wastes improperly resulting in a condition that obstructed the free use of city property,”
    and that “the defendant’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing harm to the City.”
    [Emphasis added.] At oral argument, defendants contended the italicized part of the
    instruction separately required a heightened degree of proof of a direct link between a
    disposal instruction and the identified contamination. We disagree. First, as the trial
    court observed in Phase I, based upon this instruction and upon evidence similar to the
    evidence introduced against Dow, the jury found Vulcan liable for nuisance and trespass.
    Beyond that, the language on its face requires no such direct linkage, but only proof that
    defendants’ disposal instructions resulted in obstructing free use of property and that
    defendants conduct was a substantial factor in creating that harm.
    32
    by a manufacturer bore any causal relation to the purchase and use of that firearm by an
    individual to kill various victims. 
    (Merrill, supra
    , 26 Cal.4th at p. 489.) Defendants
    nevertheless argue that the principles enunciated in Saelzler and Merrill require, in this
    case, direct evidence linking a given instruction to a specific dry cleaner who would
    testify that he read and followed it, thence to expert testimony proving the dry cleaner’s
    act was the mechanism of contamination. Otherwise, they argue, the evidence supports
    only the possibility that a defendant contributed to the contamination in a particular
    location. For example, defendants contend that even the conformance of a dry cleaner’s
    disposal practices to a defendant’s instructions is not sufficient to prove causation
    because “[s]uch happenstance does nothing more than allow for the ‘mere possibility’
    that the defendant’s instruction had something to do with the drycleaner’s conduct.” We
    do not agree that the substantial factor test of causation requires the kind of
    incontrovertible linkage proposed by defendants.
    “Although a finding of causation may not be based on mere speculation or
    conjecture, such finding may be predicated on reasonable inferences drawn from
    circumstantial evidence.” (Smith v. Lockheed Propulsion Co. (1967) 
    247 Cal. App. 2d 774
    , 780.) Direct proof of each link in a chain of causation is not required.
    “[C]ircumstantial evidence of sufficient substantiality” from which reasonable inferences
    can be drawn will support a finding of causation in fact. (Ibid.) “Causation may in many
    instances be inferred from evidence that does not itself constitute direct evidence of
    reliance on an individual basis.” (State ex rel. Wilson v. Superior Court (2014) 
    227 Cal. App. 4th 579
    , 608 (Wilson).) “Just as factors such as the magnitude and temporal
    proximity of the unlawful conduct might evidence or negate the existence of fraud, so too
    might many of the same factors influence the extent to which an inference of causation is
    appropriate.” (Id. at p. 605.)
    Defendants cite Viner v. Sweet (2003) 
    30 Cal. 4th 1232
    (Viner) for the propositions
    that the substantial factor test subsumes the traditional requirement of “but for” causation,
    and that there can be no liability if any link in the chain of causation is missing. These
    statements are accurate, but do not answer the question posed—whether defendants’
    33
    “specific instruction test” is the only means of proving that defendant’s conduct was a
    substantial factor in causing the PCE pollution. In Viner the trial court ruled that the
    usual test of causation for attorney malpractice—that the plaintiff’s outcome would have
    been better but for the attorney’s negligence—did not apply to malpractice in the
    performance of transactional work. 
    (Viner, supra
    , 30 Cal.4th at p. 1238.) The court of
    appeal affirmed, holding that “a plaintiff suing an attorney for transactional malpractice
    need not show that the harm would not have occurred in the absence of the attorney’s
    negligence.” (Id. at p. 1240.) The Supreme Court disagreed. The court of appeal
    effectively removed causation from the liability matrix, and that was error.
    In Viner the high court found no reason to except transactional malpractice from
    the traditional “but for” standard applied in malpractice cases. (Id. at pp. 1240-1242.) It
    went on, however, to caution that “the plaintiff need not prove causation with absolute
    certainty. Rather, the plaintiff need only ‘ “introduce evidence which affords a
    reasonable basis for the conclusion that it is more likely than not that the conduct of the
    defendant was a cause in fact of the result.” ’ [Citation.]” (Id. at p. 1243.) And, of
    course, “the plaintiff may use circumstantial evidence to satisfy his or her burden.” (Id.
    at p. 1242.)
    So, for example, in Wilson, plaintiff brought a qui tam action against a drug
    company (BMS) alleging it provided lavish gifts to physicians and members of formulary
    committees to induce them to prescribe BMS’s drugs. Plaintiff alleged that “as a result of
    kickbacks BMS provided to them” the physicians and formulary committees selected
    BMS’s drugs, and submitted insurance claims therefor, in violation of a statute
    prohibiting the employment of persons to procure patients to obtain insurance benefits.
    
    (Wilson, supra
    , 227 Cal.App.4th at p. 587.) The trial court granted summary adjudication
    on the following question: Assuming BMS provided an “item or service” of value to a
    doctor, and the doctor thereafter prescribed BMS’s drugs, is the statute violated “absent
    proof that the item or service caused the prescription.” (Id. at p. 589.) The trial court
    ruled that it was “not enough to prove that the unlawful conduct was a substantial factor
    resulting in the prescription.” (Id. at p. 590.)
    34
    The court of appeal reversed. It concluded the trial court erred when it ruled that
    plaintiffs must establish not only that BMS’s conduct was a substantial factor resulting in
    the prescriptions, but also that it was essential to the result, i.e., “that if the prescription
    would have been written even without BMS’s unlawful inducement, the unlawful
    conduct cannot be found to have caused the prescription and claim.” 
    (Wilson, supra
    , 227
    Cal.App.4th at p. 607.) The appellate court observed that the trial court’s standard would
    make proof of an unlawful claim almost impossible to establish. (Ibid.) The court also
    noted that but-for causation is not required where there may be, as in that case,
    independent concurrent causes. (Ibid.)
    Similarly, in Stevens v. Parke, Davis & Co. (1973) 
    9 Cal. 3d 51
    (Stevens),
    plaintiffs’ family member died after her physician prescribed a drug manufactured by
    Parke, Davis, due to a condition induced by the drug. In addition to suing the prescribing
    physician, plaintiffs successfully sued Parke, Davis for “overpromoting” the drug, and
    “watering down” the warnings concerning the drug’s link to the fatal condition. In the
    supreme court, the drug company argued its overpromotion and watered-down warnings
    were not proven to be the cause of death because the prescribing doctor admitted he was
    aware that the drug had been linked to the condition and that its “prolonged
    administration carried some danger of fatality.” (Id. at pp. 66-67 & fn.15.) The doctor
    had also testified that he obtained that information from articles in medical journals and
    from discussions with fellow physicians, and he could not remember specific instances in
    which he received any information, promotional or otherwise, directly from Parke, Davis,
    although he had received visits from drug salesmen and read journals which contained
    advertisements for the drug. (Id. at p. 68, fn. 16.)
    The court affirmed the jury’s verdict. It concluded there was “adequate
    circumstantial evidence in the record…to support a reasonable inference by the jury that
    [the physician] was induced to prescribe the drug for [the decedent] because of Parke,
    Davis’ overpromotion. Like many others of the profession, he had been exposed to the
    35
    promotional tactics employed by Parke, Davis. It is reasonable to assume that the
    company’s efforts consciously or subconsciously influenced him.”11 
    (Stevens, supra
    ,
    9 Cal.3d at p. 68; see also, Toole v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc. (1967) 
    251 Cal. App. 2d 689
    ,
    705 [trial court correctly rejected defendant’s proposed special causation jury instruction
    requiring a direct causal link between plaintiff’s injury and defendant’s violation of law].)
    These authorities support the conclusion here that direct proof of every link in the chain
    of causation, on a site-by-site and instruction-by-instruction basis, is not required.
    Liability can be proven by sufficient circumstantial evidence that would allow a
    reasonable fact-finder to find that all of defendants’ conduct—to include affirmative steps
    toward the discharge of toxic wastes—was a contributing factor to the pollution. As has
    been noted, “the State Water Board has concluded that even a relatively minor
    contribution to a discharge may support a finding of responsibility.” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    ,
    119 Cal.App.4th at p. 41.)
    As in Stevens, the absence of proof that a dry cleaner consciously followed an
    improper disposal instruction—or even a statement that a dry cleaner did not rely on a
    disposal instruction—does not ipso facto break the chain of causation. To be sure, it was
    the dry cleaners and not the manufacturers who discharged the PCE. But “ ‘ “[t]he
    substantial factor standard is a relatively broad one, requiring only that the contribution of
    the individual cause be more than negligible or theoretical.” [Citation.] Thus, “a force
    which plays only an ‘infinitesimal’ or ‘theoretical’ part in bringing about injury, damage,
    or loss is not a substantial factor” (citation), but a very minor force that does cause harm
    is a substantial factor’ (citation).” (Bettencourt v. Hennessy Industries, Inc. (2012) 
    205 Cal. App. 4th 1103
    , 1123.)
    11
    The court also alluded to expert testimony that advertising and promotion of the
    drug “played a role” in inducing physicians to prescribe the drug when it was not sound
    practice to do so. But the court appeared to conclude that even in the absence of that
    testimony, the jury could find that the doctor’s negligent prescription of the drug was a
    “foreseeable consequence of the extensive advertising and promotional campaign.”
    
    (Stevens, supra
    , 9 Cal.3d at p. 69.)
    36
    Defendants also contend that product identification is, itself, always required for
    liability because one manufacturer may not be held liable for the injury resulting from
    another manufacturer’s product. (O’Neil v. Crane Co. (2012) 
    53 Cal. 4th 335
    (O’Neil).)
    There are exceptions, however, and one is where “the defendant’s own product
    contributed substantially to the harm…or because the defendant participated substantially
    in creating a harmful combined use of the products.” (Id. at p. 362.) Defendants, in any
    event, are not contending there was no product identification at the Phase IV sites; they
    are contending that it was not proven by direct evidence that during the years their
    product was provably sold at any Phase IV site, an improper disposal instruction was
    disseminated. Connecting those dots is one way to prove causation; but other evidence,
    both direct and circumstantial, can also demonstrate that the manufacturers’ instructions
    and other conduct were substantial factors in causing the pollution. Thus, in keeping with
    common law nuisance principles (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 38), “[i]n the
    ordinary case, the liability . . . arises because one person’s acts set in motion a force or
    chain of events resulting in the invasion. The acts may be a direct and immediate cause
    of the invasion, …or they may be an indirect cause of the invasion. . . .” (Rest.2d Torts,
    § 824, com. 6, p. 116.)
    Finally, defendants argue that permitting abatement liability to be imposed on
    manufacturers without proof of each causal link—“that a specific affirmative instruction
    was received, read, and acted on by a particular drycleaner, and then resulted in
    contamination at a given site”—would be adverse to public policy, citing Ferguson v.
    Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein (2003) 
    30 Cal. 4th 1037
    (Ferguson) and 
    O’Neil, supra
    , 
    53 Cal. 4th 335
    . Neither these authorities nor any such policy issues control here.
    In Ferguson, our high court held that allowing plaintiffs in a malpractice action to
    recover, as compensatory damages, the punitive damages their attorneys failed to recover
    from the tortfeasor, would violate public policy in various ways. Primarily, it would
    contravene the entire purpose of punitive damages which is not to compensate the
    plaintiff but to punish the tortfeasor and deter him or her from similar egregious conduct.
    
    (Ferguson, supra
    , 30 Cal.4th at p. 1046.) In addition, it would exact too great a social
    37
    cost because it would hinder the courts’ ability to manage and resolve mass tort claims,
    increase the cost of malpractice insurance, and discourage the use of mandatory
    non-opt-out class actions for punitive damages. (Id. at pp. 1049-1050.) None of these
    considerations apply here.
    In O’Neil, the plaintiff had not been exposed to any asbestos-containing product
    manufactured or sold by the defendant, but only to the products of others used to replace,
    many years later, the packing and gaskets in defendant’s pumps and valves. The court
    declined to impose liability because a manufacturer could not “ ‘reasonably be expected
    to foresee the risk of latent disease arising from products supplied by others that may be
    used with the manufacturer’s product years or decades after the product leaves the
    manufacturer’s control.’ ” (
    O’Neil, supra
    , 53 Cal.4th at pp. 364-365.) The court further
    reasoned that imposing a duty on such an attenuated basis would not be consistent with
    public policy, not only because the manufacturer’s conduct was lacking in moral blame,
    but also because such a duty would not be likely to prevent future harm, and it was
    “doubtful that manufacturers could insure against the ‘unknowable risks and hazards’
    lurking in every product that could possibly be used with or in the manufacturer’s
    product.” (Id. at p. 365.) Again, no such concerns are at play here.
    Defendants cite to the principle that “ ‘proximate cause “is ordinarily concerned,
    not with the fact of causation, but with the various considerations of policy that limit an
    actor’s responsibility for the consequences of his conduct.” ’ [Citation.]” 
    (Ferguson, supra
    , 30 Cal.4th at p. 1045.) But defendants have not applied that principle to the facts
    of this case nor to their causation argument. Defendants have asserted no policy reasons
    for restricting their liability here; instead they merely repeat their claim that Modesto I
    intended to impose this “restriction[] on nuisance liability.” But we have rejected
    defendants’ interpretation of Modesto I, and it provides no support for defendants’ policy
    argument. If anything, the social costs of limiting the responsibility of chemical
    manufacturers under defendants’ formulation would fall far too heavily on the victims of
    the pollution by setting an almost insurmountable standard for proving liability. (Cf.
    
    Wilson, supra
    , 227 Cal.App.4th at p. 607.)
    38
    The measure of proof for causation should be no different here than that applied in
    any other similar action. As noted previously, the plaintiff need only “ ‘ “introduce
    evidence which affords a reasonable basis for the conclusion that it is more likely than
    not that the conduct of the defendant was a cause in fact of the result.” ’ [Citation.]”
    
    (Viner, supra
    , 30 Cal.4th at p. 1243; accord, People v. ConAgra Grocery Products Co.
    (2017) 17 Cal.App.5th 51.)
    c. CERCLA Liability Standards Do Not Apply
    The City advanced below and advances here an alternative argument to support
    causation. It contends that the Polanco Act incorporated by reference CERCLA’s “scope
    and standard of liability” (§ 33459.4, subd. (c)) and therefore, under CERCLA case law,
    the defendants bear the burden of proving that they did not cause the release that
    triggered the response costs, citing United States v. Alcan Aluminum Corp. (2d Cir. 1993)
    
    990 F.2d 711
    , 721 (Alcan). The trial court correctly rejected that argument. As was
    explained in Redevelopment Agency v. Salvation Army (2002) 
    103 Cal. App. 4th 755
    ,
    section 33459.4 of the Polanco Act incorporated CERCLA’s liability standards, “to wit,
    strict liability regardless of knowledge or intent [citation], joint and several liability
    [citation], and retroactive liability [citation].” (Id. at p. 766.) But these liability standards
    do not negate or supplant the requirement to prove causation. As we have explained, the
    Polanco Act incorporates by reference the HSAA/CERCLA categories as one set of
    “responsible parties” but plaintiffs do not contend defendant manufacturers fall within
    any of those categories. The shifting burden of proof found in those schemes only
    applies in that context. (See Orange County Water District v. Alcoa Global Fasteners,
    Inc. (2017) 12 Cal.App.5th 252, 306-309 [CERCLA and HSAA govern liability for
    specific categories of defendants; as to those defendants once a plaintiff has proven that a
    release has occurred at a site and has triggered response costs, the burden of disproving
    the provenance of the discharge shifts to the defendant]; see also Asarco LLC v. NL
    Industries, Inc. (E.D. Mo. 2015) 
    106 F. Supp. 3d 1015
    , 1031 [if a defendant fits into one of
    the four categories of responsible parties “ ‘it is enough that response costs resulted from
    39
    “a” release or threatened release—not necessarily the defendant’s release or threatened
    release’ ”].) The HSAA and CERCLA liability standards do not apply here.
    7. Conclusion
    Defendants and the trial court in Phase IV construed the Modesto I case as creating
    a special causation rule under the Polanco Act for chemical manufacturers, i.e., that
    liability in such a case could be proven only by direct proof that a dry cleaner received
    and read a specific instruction regarding disposal of the product waste; the dry cleaner
    testifies that (s)he followed that instruction; and an expert testifies that that discharge
    caused contamination. This is not a fair reading of the opinion. Had this been the
    holding of Modesto I, we could have provided a special standard for proof of causation.
    Instead we set forth only a standard of liability: “Those [manufacturers] who took
    affirmative steps directed toward the improper discharge of solvent wastes—for
    instance, . . . by instructing users of its products to dispose of wastes improperly—may be
    liable under that statute. . . .” (Modesto 
    I, supra
    , 119 Cal.App.4th at p. 43.) We excluded
    from that liability those who merely placed solvents in the stream of commerce and failed
    to warn of the dangers of improper disposal.
    The circle of liability for Polanco Act claims was thus drawn to exclude mere
    failure-to-warn product liability, but to include a manufacturer that takes “affirmative
    steps toward disposal,” for example, by providing improper instructions, and whose
    conduct “assists in creating” a nuisance. That formulation does not change the causation
    analysis, which is, considering the evidence as a whole, it is more likely than not that
    defendants’ improper instructions, and any other relevant conduct, were a substantial
    factor in causing the pollution. Because the trial court imposed a far more stringent proof
    of causation requirement in the Phase IV trial, we shall vacate that portion of the
    judgment.
    40
    Under the substantial factor test there may or may not be sufficient evidence to
    support liability for the Phase IV sites but that question has not been put to us, and will
    have to be resolved on remand.12
    B. Summary Adjudication of the Nuisance and Trespass Claims
    As we described in the procedural history, Dow, PPG and others filed a motion for
    summary adjudication on the nuisance and trespass claims which was granted as to Dow
    and PPG. The trial court ruled that liability for nuisance required evidence that the
    defendants had control over the solvent use and disposal activities of the dry cleaner or
    direct involvement in the design of unsafe disposal systems or dry cleaning equipment.
    Proof that the manufacturers were aware of the hazards of solvents and provided
    insufficient or inaccurate instructions and warnings concerning their use and disposal, the
    court determined, was not enough for nuisance liability. The City filed a petition for writ
    of mandate in this court seeking interlocutory review of the ruling, and the petition was
    summarily denied.
    Dow, PPG and others then filed a motion for summary adjudication of the Polanco
    Act claim. The trial court granted the motion as to Dow and PPG, again concluding that
    plaintiffs’ evidence did not show that these defendants “either directly participated in or
    exercised authority or control over on-site activities or disposal activities at Modesto dry
    cleaners.”
    Plaintiffs again filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking review of the trial
    court’s order. We granted the petition, vacated the trial court’s ruling and remanded the
    matter for a new hearing on the motion. We concluded that the Polanco Act should be
    construed in harmony with the principles of nuisance; that pursuant to those principles
    12
    It is reasonable to expect that on remand liability could be found if the correct
    causation standard is utilized. This is because: (1) the vast bulk of the evidence
    pertaining to the Polanco Act bench trials was presented during the preceding jury trials
    (Phases I and III); (2) application of the traditional causation test resulted in a finding of
    liability under the Polanco Act in Phase II based on the evidence in Phase I; and (3)
    according to defendants, the “same facts” were adduced in Phases I and III.
    41
    “ ‘ “[n]ot only is the party who maintains the nuisance liable but also the party or parties
    who create or assist in its creation are responsible for the ensuing damages;” ’ ” and that a
    defendant who provides improper instructions to users regarding the disposal of a toxic
    chemical can therefore be liable under the Polanco Act.
    After remand, the trial court denied Dow and PPG’s motion on the Polanco Act
    claim. It rejected, however, plaintiffs’ request that the court reconsider its order on the
    nuisance motion in light of Modesto I. The court ruled there was no basis for
    reconsideration. It explained, “I don’t think their discussion of nuisance…in the Polanco
    Act matter is new law. . . . They’re analogizing it to existing law, which I assume they
    applied when they denied the writ [on the nuisance ruling].” In effect, the court treated
    our summary denial of the petition challenging the nuisance ruling as a decision on the
    merits. This is manifestly incorrect. (Kowis v. Howard (1992) 
    3 Cal. 4th 888
    , 897-899.)
    It is also clear from the record that Modesto I rejected the trial court’s rationale for
    granting not just the Polanco Act summary adjudication but the nuisance and trespass
    summary adjudication as well. Accordingly, it was plain error to deny the motion for
    reconsideration after Modesto I was decided.
    The City asserts the denial of reconsideration was error, and defendants essentially
    concede the point. Below, defendants did not oppose reconsideration of the ruling but
    only argued that upon reconsideration, the court should reach the same result because
    plaintiffs could not show that defendants were liable under the principles outlined in
    Modesto I. Similarly, on appeal, defendants do not argue that the trial court’s denial of
    reconsideration was not error; rather, they contend the court’s ruling was not prejudicial
    because plaintiffs cannot prove that defendants “caused” the nuisance. This argument is
    based entirely on defendants’ interpretation of Modesto I and their distinct theory of what
    proof is required to prove causation both for nuisance and for the Polanco Act. Because
    we have concluded that neither Modesto I nor traditional causation analysis requires the
    kind of proof advocated by defendants, the trial court’s failure to grant the
    reconsideration motion was manifestly prejudicial, precluding plaintiffs from pursuing a
    key cause of action and remedy against the defendants.
    42
    We therefore vacate the order denying the motion for reconsideration and remand
    with directions to reconsider and deny the motion for summary adjudication on the
    nuisance claims.13
    C. Challenges to Award of Punitive Damages
    Both the City and Dow raise challenges to the award of punitive damages. The
    City contends the trial court erred in reducing the jury’s award, and Dow contends
    punitive damages should not have been imposed at all.
    1. Background
    After the Phase I trial, the jury awarded to the City its costs of conducting
    environmental investigations, of developing and implementing an appropriate remedy,
    and of past and future well-head filtration costs. The sums awarded were: $1,384,000 for
    City well number 3, $1,659,534 for City well number 21, and $130,300 for Coffee Plaza,
    for a total compensatory damage award of $3,173,834. The jury also found that Dow,
    Vulcan and Street had acted with malice, and assessed $75,000 in punitive damages
    against Street, $75,000,000 against Dow and $100,000,000 against Vulcan.
    Dow, Vulcan and Street separately moved for judgment notwithstanding the
    verdict (JNOV) and for a new trial. We are concerned here only with Dow’s punitive
    damage award.
    In its motion for JNOV, Dow argued, inter alia, that there was no substantial
    evidence to support either a finding of malice or a finding that any malicious act was
    done by an officer, director or managing agent. In its motion for a new trial, Dow also
    argued that the punitive damages award should be vacated or reduced because it was
    excessive.
    The trial court denied the motions for JNOV. The court ruled that there was
    “substantial evidence supported the jury’s findings that, under the standard of clear and
    convincing evidence, defendants Vulcan, Dow and Street acted with malice in the
    13
    The City’s briefs nowhere request reversal of, or even mention, the summary
    adjudication of the trespass claim. We, therefore, do not consider whether that ruling was
    in error.
    43
    wrongful conduct that caused harm to the City.” It also concluded that there was
    substantial evidence to support a finding, under the clear and convincing standard, “that
    one or more officers, directors, or managing agents of the three corporations (a)
    committed the offending conduct, (b) authorized the conduct with knowledge of its
    malicious nature, or (c) knowing of the conduct and its malicious nature, nevertheless
    adopted or approved it after it had occurred.” Dow appeals that order.
    In connection with the motions for new trial, the trial court reduced the award as to
    Dow and Vulcan to a total of $12,695,336, of which $5,441,221 was assessed against
    Dow.14 The court concluded that the jury “clearly” should have reached a different
    verdict on the amount of punitive damages, that this total punitive damage amount—four
    times the compensatory damage award—represented the maximum award consistent with
    the constitutional right to due process and that, in the court’s independent assessment,
    this amount was fair and reasonable. This amount was allocated between Dow and
    Vulcan in proportion to the respective punitive damages awarded by the jury.15 The City
    challenges the trial court’s reduction of the punitive damages award. Because we
    conclude Dow’s JNOV motion should have been granted, the City’s appeal on this issue
    is moot.
    2. Legal Standards
    Punitive damages may be awarded “where it is proven by clear and convincing
    evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice.” (Civ. Code,
    § 3294, subd. (a).) “As defined in the punitive damages statute, ‘[m]alice’ encompasses
    ‘despicable conduct which is carried on by the defendant with a willful and conscious
    disregard of the rights and safety of others,’ and ‘[o]ppression’ means ‘despicable
    14
    Street also moved for JNOV. The trial court denied Street’s motion as well.
    Street did not move for a new trial.
    15
    The jury had awarded punitive damages of $100,000,000 against Vulcan and
    $75,000,000 against Dow. Based on these proportions, the trial court concluded Vulcan
    should bear 57.14 percent of the $12,695,336 total punitive damage award (or
    $7,254,115) and Dow should bear 42.86 percent (or $5,441,221).
    44
    conduct that subjects a person to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of that
    person’s rights.’ (Civ. Code, § 3294, subd. (c)(1), (2).)…. [¶] Under the statute, ‘malice
    does not require actual intent to harm. [Citation.] Conscious disregard for the safety of
    another may be sufficient where the defendant is aware of the probable dangerous
    consequences of his or her conduct and he or she willfully fails to avoid such
    consequences. [Citation.] Malice may be proved either expressly through direct
    evidence or by implication through indirect evidence from which the jury draws
    inferences. [Citation.]’ [Citation.]” (Pfeifer v. John Crane, Inc. (2013) 
    220 Cal. App. 4th 1270
    , 1299; see also College Hospital Inc. v. Superior Court (1994) 
    8 Cal. 4th 704
    , 725.)
    “ ‘[T]o establish malice, it is not sufficient to show only that the defendant’s
    conduct was negligent, grossly negligent or even reckless. [Citation.] There must be
    evidence that defendant acted with knowledge of the probable dangerous consequences to
    plaintiff’s interests and deliberately failed to avoid these consequences.’ [Citation.]”
    (Gawara v. United States Brass Corp. (1998) 
    63 Cal. App. 4th 1341
    , 1361; see also
    Simmons v. Southern Pac. Transportation Co. (1976) 
    62 Cal. App. 3d 341
    , 368
    [“ ‘Mere . . . negligence, even gross negligence is not sufficient to justify an award of
    punitive damages. [Citations.]’ ”].)
    Moreover, there are limitations on a corporation’s liability for punitive damages
    flowing from the acts of its employees. As pertinent here, an employer is not liable for
    punitive damages based on the action of an employee “unless the employer . . .
    authorized or ratified the wrongful conduct for which the damages are awarded or was
    personally guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice. With respect to a corporate employer,
    the advance knowledge and conscious disregard, authorization, ratification or act of
    oppression, fraud, or malice must be on the part of an officer, director, or managing agent
    of the corporation.” (Civ. Code, § 3294, subd. (b).) A managing agent must be more
    than a supervisory employee, but can be “someone who exercises substantial
    discretionary authority over decisions that ultimately determine corporate policy.”
    (White v. Ultramar, Inc. (1999) 
    21 Cal. 4th 563
    , 573 (White).) This element of corporate
    45
    liability, as well, must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. (Barton v. Alexander
    Hamilton Life Ins. Co. of America (2003) 
    110 Cal. App. 4th 1640
    , 1644.)
    A jury’s award of punitive damages “must be upheld if it is supported by
    substantial evidence. [Citations.] As in other cases involving the issue of substantial
    evidence, we are bound to ‘consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the
    prevailing party, giving him the benefit of every reasonable inference, and resolving
    conflicts in support of the judgment.’ [Citation.] But since the jury’s findings were
    subject to a heightened burden of proof, we must review the record in support of these
    findings in light of that burden. In other words, we must inquire whether the record
    contains ‘substantial evidence to support a determination by clear and convincing
    evidence. . . .’ [Citation.]” (Shade Foods, Inc. v. Innovative Products Sales &
    Marketing, Inc. (2000) 
    78 Cal. App. 4th 847
    , 891.)
    3. The City’s “Managing Agent” Theory
    The trial court did not specify what conduct it believed the jury found to be
    malicious, nor did it identify under which of the three “managing agent” scenarios—
    committed, authorized or ratified—Dow was found to be liable for punitive damages.
    Accordingly, we look to the City’s arguments on appeal to ascertain what evidence it
    contends supported a finding of malicious conduct by an officer, director or managing
    agent of Dow.
    The City’s theory can be summarized as follows: Dow employed “product
    stewards” who were responsible for knowing and understanding the health, safety, and
    environmental aspects of the chemicals for which they were stewards. The product
    stewards for PCE were involved in the preparation of MSDS’s and other documents that
    contained the improper instructions pertaining to the use, handling and disposal of PCE.
    The product stewards’ conduct was malicious because they knew, since at least 1978, that
    the instructions for disposal of PCE contained in the MSDS’s would lead to groundwater
    contamination. These product stewards were “managing agents” because they were
    given “ultimate authority and broad discretion” to create the MSDS’s and other Dow
    communications. Therefore, the jury could reasonably find they were effectively
    46
    formulating ad hoc corporate policy on Dow’s warnings and instructions concerning
    PCE. 16 Remarkably, the City’s key contention—that the product stewards had “ultimate
    authority” and “broad discretion” to create the MSDS’s and other Dow communications
    is unsupported by a single citation to the record and our own search of the record has
    found none.
    The City correctly states that it is the product steward’s job to “basically know
    everything there was to know about a particular chemical,” and to be “involved in”
    formulating the company’s instructions about PCE disposal. As explained by one
    product steward, his job was to “read and understand health and safety and to some extent
    environmental information associated with the product[] . . . and help develop
    information for communication to folks who might . . . buy or use those products.”
    The City goes on to argue, however, without any citation to the record, that the
    product stewards “were given the ultimate authority and broad discretion to create Dow’s
    communications to all of its customers. They determined Dow’s instructions about the
    handling and disposal of PCE, and made the decisions over more than a decade not to
    warn about environmental hazards they knew about, and to promulgate inadequate and
    16
    The trial court denied the defendants’ motions to set aside the finding of malice
    having concluded that the “conduct…found by the jury to be malicious…occurred over
    many years and involved numerous persons within each of the corporations,” and so there
    was “non-speculative circumstantial evidence sufficient to [support a finding by] clear
    and convincing [evidence], that the relevant information in fact ‘moved upward to a point
    where corporate policy was formulated’ [quoting Romo v. Ford Motor Co. (2002)
    
    99 Cal. App. 4th 1115
    , judg. vacated and cause remanded in Ford Motor Company v.
    Romo (2003) 
    538 U.S. 1028
    ].” The Romo opinion, however, was vacated in its entirety
    by the United States Supreme Court, and therefore is not citable precedent. (See People
    v. Hamilton (1988) 
    45 Cal. 3d 351
    , 363.) Further, in Romo there was evidence that the
    top executives within one of Ford’s divisions (light trucks) were responsible for the
    malicious decision making involved in that case. Here, in contrast, the trial court ruled
    that conduct involving “numerous persons” over “many years,” without more, supported
    a finding that corporate policy was formulated.
    47
    improper disposal instructions.”17 (Emphasis added.) The City repeats this assertion
    verbatim, 13 pages later, again without citing to the record.
    Yet a third time, responding to Dow’s contention that there was no evidence the
    “product stewards had authority to set corporate policy or to disregard [Dow’s] product
    stewardship policies,” the City argues that “the jury . . . could have reasonably found to
    the contrary based on the broad authority and discretion of product stewards in issuing
    Dow’s PCE instructions.” (Emphasis added.) Again, no record citation is provided for
    this assertion.
    “In sum,” the City concludes, “ ‘a reasonable jury could have found by clear and
    convincing evidence that product stewards had the authority to form corporate policies
    regarding the warnings for Dow’s products, and thus had ‘substantial independent
    authority and judgment over decisions that ultimately determine corporate policy.’
    
    (White, supra
    , 
    21 Cal. 4th 563
    , 573.)”
    We have searched the record in vain for anything other than a few snippets of
    support for the City’s contention that Dow’s product stewards had “broad discretion” and
    “ultimate authority” over the warnings and disposal instructions contained in the MSDS’s
    or in any other Dow literature. Stanley Dombrowski, who was product steward and later
    chief product steward for inorganic chemicals, described his involvement with the Dow
    documents in this way: “With the help of technical experts in individual fields, like
    toxicologists or physicians or epidemiologists or environmental chemists . . . [I authored]
    17
    The City elsewhere argues that “product[] stewards were given broad authority
    by Dow’s president to determine what was communicated as Dow policy to all customers
    about PCE disposal and environmental issues. By virtue of the authority given and their
    function, product stewards were managing agents.” The only record cite to evidence (as
    opposed to argument) is to the testimony of a product steward that the City characterizes
    as describing his “broad authority over Dow’s communications to customers.” The
    actual testimony, however, was that the product steward’s job was to “facilitate and
    participate in the process of developing the information and communication process to
    purchasers and users of those chemicals.” (Emphasis added) There is no evidence that
    Dow’s president conferred any authority on product stewards to be the decision makers
    with respect to the content of Dow’s communications on any subject.
    48
    summations of information in layman language with their help and guidance for inclusion
    in literature, published product literature, maybe even personal letter of
    communications.” With respect to the MSDS’s in particular, Dombrowski was asked
    whether, as product steward or chief product steward, he had “either direct responsibility
    for preparing Material Safety Data Sheets for perc, or supervising others.” He responded
    only that he was “directly involved in the[ir] preparation. . . .”
    Another product steward, Laurence Lee, was asked how MSDS’s were reviewed
    and approved by the company before they were released to customers. He stated, “they
    would be created by our regulatory group that had access to the tox[icology] data, to the
    environmental data. A Safety Data Sheet draft would be created, it would be routed to
    the Environmental Health and Safety group. It would be routed to the product steward.
    It would be routed to several other people in the corporation. And comments would be
    taken and then . . . any discrepancies or differences would be resolved, and then it would
    be released for publication.”
    Janet Hickman, the PCE product steward since 1991, testified that her job was to
    “help facilitate carrying out [Dow’s] Product Stewardship Program” and that part of her
    work was “viewing documents that are provided to Dow customers,” including MSDS’s
    and Spotnews. She was listed on “some of the documents” as someone customers can
    contact to get information. When asked if she was “basically the clearinghouse” for calls
    from PCE purchasers, she responded, “[p]eople can certainly call me, yes.” She stated
    that she works with toxicologists, medical doctors (“periodically”) and environmental
    scientists (“periodically”). She is not the person “in charge of giving answers to
    customers” but she is the person “in charge of developing answers. Many people can
    give the answers.” With respect to a 1995 MSDS, Hickman was asked, “[a]nd this was
    prepared by a number of Dow employees to make sure that it was accurate, including
    toxicologists and medical doctors and so on? A. Yes, a number of people reviewed this.
    Q. Including professionals in the disciplines I mentioned? A. Correct.”
    We see nothing in this evidence to support the City’s contention that the product
    stewards had either “broad discretion,” or “ultimate authority,” or decision making power
    49
    over Dow’s communications about the handling and disposal of PCE. In short, there is
    no evidence to support the City’s assertion that the product stewards “made the decisions
    over more than a decade not to warn about known environmental hazards, and to
    promulgate inadequate and improper disposal instructions.” (Emphasis added.) From the
    testimony one can conclude, at most, that product stewards were charged with being
    knowledgeable about PCE, and were involved in preparing MSDS’s and other
    communications. The evidence simply cannot be described as substantial evidence to
    support a finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that the product stewards
    “ ‘exercised authority that resulted in the ad hoc formulation of corporate policy’ on
    Dow’s warnings and instructions about PCE [quoting Davis v. Kiewit Pacific Co. (2013)
    
    220 Cal. App. 4th 358
    , 373 (Davis)].”
    Nor has the City cited to any evidence showing that the information included in
    the MSDS’s was known to, authorized by or ratified by any officer, director or managing
    agent. So far as we can ascertain, the record is silent on this question, as it relates to
    Dow. This is in contrast to evidence pertaining to Vulcan’s issuance of MSDS’s which,
    apparently, required the signature of multiple high-level management persons: “These are
    all the executives, managers, vice-presidents who had to sign off on one Material Safety
    Data Sheet going out to the customers, including the vice-president of marketing, the
    vice-president of research and engineering, the vice-president of manufacturing, [and] the
    division president.”18
    The City relies on Egan v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co. (1979) 
    24 Cal. 3d 809
    (Egan), and Davis v. Kiewit Pacific 
    Co., supra
    , 
    220 Cal. App. 4th 358
    to support its
    contention that an employee need not be in a “high-level policy making” position to be a
    managing agent. But while the cited principle is true, the facts of Egan and Davis are
    inapposite.
    18
    We say “apparently” because Vulcan is not a party to the appeal, and so, much
    of the evidence relating to Vulcan is not included in the record. The quoted statement is
    from the City’s closing argument to the jury.
    50
    In Egan, the plaintiff’s disability claim was denied in bad faith by two employees
    of the insurance company. 
    (Egan, supra
    , 24 Cal.3d at pp. 816-817.) On appeal, the
    insurance company challenged the punitive damages awarded in the trial court on the
    ground, inter alia, that the individuals responsible were not managing agents because
    “neither was involved in ‘high-level policy making.’ ” (Id. at p. 822.) The court rejected
    that argument stating that the critical inquiry was not the employees’ level in the
    corporate hierarchy, but “the degree of discretion the employees possess in making
    decisions that will ultimately determine corporate policy. When employees dispose of
    insureds’ claims with little if any supervision, they possess sufficient discretion for the
    law to impute their actions concerning those claims to the corporation.” (Id. at
    pp. 822-823.) The record showed that one of the employees was the manager of the
    Benefits Department who had “ultimate supervisory and decisional authority regarding
    the disposition of all claims . . . [in] the Los Angeles office.” (Id. at p. 823.) Although
    the other employee claimed he had acted “at the direction of some higher authority,” he
    could not recall who gave him that direction, the files contained no written directive, and
    there was no “identifiable person in authority at [the] home office to receive and review
    [his] reports.” (Id. at p. 817.) The court, accordingly, concluded the record showed he
    also had the kind of broad discretion and authority that “necessarily results in the ad hoc
    formulation of policy.” (Id. at p. 823.)
    In Davis, the plaintiff was part of Kiewit’s 100-person construction crew working
    on a 12-mile segment of canal excavation and construction. 
    (Davis, supra
    , 220
    Cal.App.4th at p. 360.) She was subjected to discriminatory treatment and harassment
    both by her foreman and other workers. (Id. at p. 361.) The plaintiff complained to the
    project manager, who was defendant’s “highest ranking employee on the site” about the
    difficulty of accessing portable toilets, which were often located “miles from the work
    area.” The project manager stated he would look into it, but neither he nor anyone else
    followed up on the issue. (Ibid.) After one particularly serious incident of harassment
    she complained to her foreman and to the day shift superintendent, who in turn reported it
    to his superior. The project manager learned of the incident on the following day, but no
    51
    one investigated the matter to determine who was responsible. (Ibid.) The plaintiff also
    complained to Kiewit’s equal employment opportunity (EEO) officer regarding both
    matters and expressed concern about retaliation because she had lodged a complaint with
    Cal-OSHA about the toilets. The EEO officer did not take any action to prevent
    retaliation. (Ibid.) Shortly thereafter Kiewit laid off most of the excavation crew,
    including the plaintiff, but one week later selectively rehired a full day shift. Davis was
    not rehired. Davis sued for compensatory and punitive damages. (Id. at pp. 361-362.)
    Defendant successfully moved for summary adjudication on the claim for punitive
    damages, relying on declarations from the project manager and the EEO officer that they
    had no “substantial discretionary authority over decisions that determine [Kiewit’s]
    corporate policy.” 
    (Davis, supra
    , 220 Cal.App.4th at p. 362.) The court of appeal
    reversed. Plaintiff’s opposing evidence showed that the project manager was “Kiewit’s
    top management employee in charge of the $170 million project;” that all managers on
    the project reported to him; that his duties included contract administration, operations
    and personnel oversight, and meeting with project stakeholders; and that he had “broad
    discretion relating to personnel issues and the allocation of resources to meet project
    goals.” (Id. at p. 367.) Further, there was no evidence that “management of a $170
    million project with supervision of 100 employees is an insignificant part of Kiewit’s
    business.” Accordingly, the court concluded, “a trier of fact could reasonably infer from
    the above evidence that [the project manager] ‘exercised substantial discretionary
    authority over [significant] aspects of [Kiewit’s] business’ and therefore was a managing
    agent of Kiewit. [Citing 
    White, supra
    , 21 Cal.4th at p. 577.]” (Id. at p. 370.)
    As for the EEO officer, Kiewit’s policy manual expressly made him responsible
    for “the investigation of any complaint of discrimination and the implementation of any
    necessary corrective action, the dissemination of the EEO Policy . . . , [and] the periodic
    review of [Kiewit’s] employment records and practices to assure that [Kiewit’s] . . . EEO
    Policy [is] being administered on a nondiscriminatory basis. . . .” 
    (Davis, supra
    , 220
    Cal.App.4th at p. 373.) The EEO officer himself testified that it was his duty was to
    “administer[] Kiewit’s policies that prevent discrimination, retaliation, and harassment
    52
    based on gender and other protected groups for the Northwest District,” and that he
    trained supervisory personnel, responded to employee complaints, and conducted or
    oversaw investigations regarding alleged discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. (Id.
    at pp. 372-373.) Based on all of the evidence, the court concluded a jury could find that
    the EEO officer had “authority and discretion” in making, interpreting, and applying
    Kiewit’s policies, that he exercised his authority and discretion to not enforce Kiewit’s
    policy against retaliation and/or to not protect the plaintiff from retaliation, “and, in so
    doing, exercised authority that resulted in the ad hoc formulation of corporate policy.”
    (Id. at p. 373.)
    These cases stand for the proposition that a managing agent is not only a person
    who sits high in the corporate hierarchy and devises formal corporate policies; if the
    evidence shows that a person has actual, unsupervised authority and broad discretion to
    implement (or ignore) corporate policy then he or she can, in this manner, be formulating
    “ad hoc corporate policy.” But we have found no evidence that the product stewards
    were either given or exercised “ultimate authority” or “broad discretion” in formulating
    Dow’s warnings and disposal instructions in its communications about PCE. The
    evidence showed this was a collaborative exercise, and there is no evidence that the
    product stewards had decision-making power over the content.
    Finally, the City argued that “[t]hese were instructions issued for decades along
    with Dow’s products, as part of Dow’s claimed expertise on its products.” Therefore, the
    City argues (quoting from Dow’s brief), “[t]his case is far from one involving only
    ‘transitory decision-making on individual items’ where ‘ “[n]o evidence was presented
    regarding [the]…duties or authority” ’ of the employee alleged to be a managing agent.
    [Citations.]” The portion of Dow’s brief from which the City drew this quotation, in turn,
    quoted Gelfo v. Lockheed Martin Corp. (2006) 
    140 Cal. App. 4th 34
    , 63 (Gelfo).
    In Gelfo, the appellate court upheld a directed verdict in favor of defendant on the
    issue of punitive damages. It concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support a
    finding that a “corporate decision maker” had been involved in improperly rescinding
    plaintiff’s job offer. Although the individual who withdrew the offer had the title of vice-
    53
    president, “Gelfo did not introduce any evidence to establish his position in Lockheed’s
    corporate hierarchy. No evidence was presented regarding [his] duties or authority, let
    alone substantial evidence, that [he] ‘exercise[d] substantial discretionary authority over
    decisions that ultimately determine corporate policy.’ [Citation.]” 
    (Gelfo, supra
    ,
    140 Cal.App.4th at p. 63.) The City cannot distinguish Gelfo. While the City did
    introduce evidence of the product stewards’ duties, there was no evidence to establish
    their position in the corporate hierarchy—in a company with 40,000 to 50,000
    employees—and “[n]o evidence[,] . . . let alone substantial evidence, that [they]
    ‘exercise[d] substantial discretionary authority over decisions that ultimately determine
    corporate policy.’ ”19 (Ibid.)
    We are loath to overturn a jury’s finding under any circumstances, and particularly
    a finding that punitive damages should be imposed due to the reprehensible conduct of a
    corporate actor. But we must operate within the bounds of the record that has been
    provided and within controlling legal principles.
    As to the law, the legislature has determined that, for a corporation to be liable for
    exemplary damages, the wrongful acts giving rise to those damages must be committed
    19
    The jury may have been swayed by the City’s closing argument, in which
    counsel explained that, “[w]ithin Dow, just like within Vulcan, there’s a process for these
    communications to be cleared with their customers, the Material Safety Data Sheet. They
    had, according to the evidence, environmental scientists, industrial hygienists,
    toxicologists, medical doctors as part of a committee, along with a product steward,
    review these communications” and the president of Dow said “to this group of executives
    doing MSDS’s: Do the right thing, I’m giving you the power to make these decisions.”
    (Emphasis added.) The evidence, however, showed that the MSDS’s were “routed” to
    technical experts and “others” before they were released. There is no evidence that there
    was a “committee,” that the so-called committee was comprised of a “group of
    executives” or that the president told the persons working on the MSDS’s that he was
    giving them “the power to make these decisions.” There is also no evidence that Dow’s
    process was the same or similar to Vulcan’s, whereby a number of corporate officers
    signed off on the MSDS’s before they were released.
    In this same vein, it is worth noting that, on essentially the same evidence against
    Dow in Phase III (in which Vulcan was not a party) the jury, on a 10 to 2 vote, found no
    malice.
    54
    (or authorized, or ratified) by an “officer, director, or managing agent.” (Civ. Code
    § 3294, subd. (b).) This was to “avoid imposing punitive damages on employers who
    were merely negligent or reckless and to distinguish ordinary respondeat superior liability
    from corporate liability for punitive damages. [Citations.]” 
    (White, supra
    , 21 Cal.4th at
    p. 572.)
    As to the record, the City failed to substantiate its claim that the product stewards
    were managing agents. While the record amply supports the findings of corporate
    liability, it lacks clear and convincing evidentiary support for one of the elements
    necessary to support the imposition of punitive damages on Dow, and we must,
    accordingly, vacate that portion of the jury’s verdict.
    D. Directed Verdict Based on “No Present Injury”
    1. Procedural History
    During the Phase III jury trial, defendants filed a motion for directed verdict,
    arguing (among other things) that the City’s appropriative interest in its groundwater had
    not suffered a present injury, but only a possible future injury at 18 sites, and therefore
    could not be a basis for claiming damages at those sites under negligence and product
    liability theories. Defendants relied on County of Santa Clara v. Atlantic Richfield Co.
    (2006) 
    137 Cal. App. 4th 292
    , 325 (Santa Clara) and Aas v. Superior Court (2000) 
    24 Cal. 4th 627
    , 649 (Aas). To set the stage, we take a brief detour to summarize those cases.
    In Santa Clara, the plaintiffs (a number of governmental entities) sued various
    manufacturers of paint that contained lead. Among other things, the plaintiffs sought
    damages for injuries to their buildings, under negligence and products liability theories,
    based on the presence of lead paint on the walls, which would have to be tested and
    removed. (Santa 
    Clara, supra
    , 137 Cal.App.4th at p. 320.) Defendants successfully
    demurred to these causes of action. A majority of the court of appeal affirmed. It
    concluded that plaintiffs’ damage claims “do not include any allegations of physical
    injury . . . and therefore their causes of action for negligence and strict products
    liability . . . have never accrued.” (Id. at p. 318.) The court followed the holding in
    55
    Aas that homeowners may not sue contractors and developers for the cost of repairing
    construction defects under a negligence theory if the defects have not caused property
    damage. 
    (Aas, supra
    , 24 Cal.4th at p. 632.) The Santa Clara court reasoned: The
    plaintiffs did not allege that the presence of lead paint caused any damage to or
    deterioration of the walls or floors of the structure “other than the lead paint [itself]”
    (Santa Clara, at p. 325), and so the damages allegations could “only be characterized as
    seeking the cost of repairing [their] buildings” which is a purely economic loss (id. at p.
    321); therefore, plaintiffs failed to allege the final element under the negligence or strict
    liability causes of action—physical injury. (Id. at p. 325.)20
    Upon these authorities, defendants argued below that the City had not made a
    prima facie case for its negligence and strict liability claims because there was no
    evidence of physical damage to the City’s property, i.e., the PCE contamination was not
    interfering with its sewers or easements nor with its appropriative right to acquire
    groundwater. With respect to the groundwater, defendants took the position that, because
    the State owns all water in trust for the people, and because state agencies, such as the
    Regional Water Quality Boards are charged with protecting water quality, regulating and
    avoiding the discharge of contaminants, and overseeing cleanup of contamination—and
    the City is not so charged—the City’s property interest in the groundwater is limited to
    that which it actually or imminently pulls into its wells. Acknowledging that the City’s
    right “may be interfered with in the future” defendants argued there had, as yet, been no
    “present injury” to the City’s appropriative water rights because the PCE contamination
    20
    The dissent in Santa Clara took the position that Aas, a construction defect
    case, was inapplicable; that “appreciable harm” can occur without actual physical or
    personal injury where “contamination” results from defendant’s product, citing San
    Francisco Unified School Dist. v. W.R. Grace & Co. (1995) 
    37 Cal. App. 4th 1318
    , 1333
    (SFUSD); and that the measure of damage (economic losses due to costs of repair) should
    not be confused with the nature of the injury (physical harm from contamination), citing
    Transwestern Pipeline Co. v. Monsanto Co. (1996) 
    46 Cal. App. 4th 502
    , 527
    (Transwestern). (Santa 
    Clara, supra
    , 137 Cal.App.4th at pp. 338-340.)
    56
    emanating from (most of) the Phase 3 sites was not a current threat to any of the City’s
    wells.21
    With respect to the soil contamination, defendants contended there had been no
    proof of any damage to the sewer system, or the wastewater system, and no incident
    where any special precautions needed to be taken by City workers due to PCE
    contamination.
    In response, the City argued that it had a property interest in, and power over, not
    just in the water it actually uses, but all of the groundwater over which it holds
    appropriative rights. The City pointed to Water Code section 106.5—providing that a
    municipality’s right to acquire and hold rights to the use of water “should be protected to
    the fullest extent necessary for existing and future uses”—and to cases holding that the
    right to the use of underground waters by the overlying appropriator is a protectable
    property interest. (Fullerton v. State Water Resources Control Bd., (1979) 
    90 Cal. App. 3d 590
    , 598-599; Rank v. Krug (S.D. Cal. 1950) 
    90 F. Supp. 773
    , 788.)22 The City also
    pointed to Public Utilities Code section 10153 which provides that a city has the right to
    take “any waters belonging to the State.”
    21
    Defendants conceded there was evidence that contamination at some sites did
    threaten contamination at a City well, and as to those sites, the court denied the motion
    for directed verdict.
    22
    Defendants also relied on Fullerton to support their argument that the City’s
    appropriative rights are limited to the groundwater the City actually appropriates for
    delivery to its customers. Defendants pointed to Fullerton’s recitation of the general rule
    that an appropriation consists of “[t]he intent to take [water], accompanied by some open,
    physical demonstration of the intent, and for some valuable use,” meaning that actual
    diversion or control over the water seeking to be appropriated is a necessary element to
    an appropriative right. 
    (Fullerton, supra
    , 90 Cal.App.3d at pp.598-599, [“The significant
    common element of all of these forms of possession is some physical act with respect to
    the water by the appropriator to manifest the possessory right”].) While this is a correct
    statement of the law it is not applicable here. In Fullerton, the petitioner was seeking to
    establish a new “appropriative” right without proposing to divert or take control over the
    water. (Id. at p. 594.) Here, no one disputes that the City has long since established an
    appropriative right in the Modesto’s groundwater by its diversion and control over that
    groundwater.
    57
    The City also argued that the introduction of contamination to the City’s
    easements was itself considered “damage” under tort law, citing 
    Transwestern, supra
    ,
    46 Cal.App.4th at p. 531. Finally, the City pointed out the trial court had already ruled,
    in an earlier motion, that (1) Santa Clara is distinguishable because it pertains to the
    presence of lead paint in buildings, not the presence of a chemical contaminant in soil and
    water, and (2) “[d]efendants [had not cited] any authority holding that water and/or soil
    contamination does not constitute ‘physical damage’ for purposes of . . . products liability
    law. . . .”
    The court, it should be noted, had previously been asked to determine whether the
    City could even pursue tort claims for contamination of its groundwater if it had not yet
    entered any wells. The court ruled that the City “has the right to bring an action to
    remediate contamination of [the water in the aquifer] even though it has not yet entered
    the City’s wells,” and therefore, “[d]efendants’ argument that the City cannot sue in
    products liability and negligence because the City’s right to the aquifer water has not
    been perfected misses the point and is simply not persuasive.” It further concluded—on
    the question of whether the City had suffered “appreciable harm” as a result of the release
    of PCE—“the City alleges that there is currently a PCE plume in the aquifer. [Citation to
    transcript.] If the jury agrees and finds that the plume ‘caused [the City] to act, or
    reasonably should have caused it to act, in response to the contamination’ [citing In re
    Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether Products Liability Litigation (MTBE) (S.D.N.Y. 2006)
    
    475 F. Supp. 2d 286
    , 293], then the City has suffered ‘appreciable harm’ under the rule set
    forth in MTBE.”
    In spite of this earlier ruling, the court granted defendants’ motion for directed
    verdict as to 14 of the 18 sites. The court again concluded that the City has a statutory
    right to acquire and use groundwater for municipal purposes and that this right includes
    the “duty to provide drinking water to City residents and to protect water destined for
    City wells from contaminating those wells.” And the court again rejected the limitations
    of Santa Clara, stating that neither Santa Clara nor any other case prevents a
    municipality from suing in tort for “interference with or damage to its usufructuary rights
    58
    in groundwater . . . [including] under the strict products liability theory it advances[]”
    (again, citing In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether Products Liability Litigation (S.D.N.Y.
    2006) 
    457 F. Supp. 2d 455
    , 461).
    Observing that neither party had cited authority that defined what would constitute
    interference with or damage to appropriative rights (and apparently rejecting its previous
    reliance on the standard of “appreciable harm” set forth in MTBE), the court crafted its
    own definition. It concluded that, while the City would not be required to prove the PCE
    had actually reached its wells, “[a]t a minimum, there would have to be an imminent
    threat to a municipality’s drinking water in order for a jury to conclude that the
    municipality’s rights in that water have been damaged or interfered with.” (Italics
    added.) The court therefore directed a verdict for defendants with respect to 14 of the 18
    sites because the City’s own evidence showed there was no threat to municipal wells as a
    result of the contamination at those sites. The court also concluded (contrary to its prior
    ruling that contamination constitutes “physical damage”) there was no evidence from
    which a jury could conclude that there had been any actual interference with or damage
    to the City’s easements, e.g., the City had not shown the contamination had caused any
    damage to the sewer or wastewater systems, or any City property.
    2. Arguments on Appeal
    Challenging this ruling on appeal the City argues, as an initial matter, that case law
    is more protective of appropriative rights than the trial court allowed, providing recourse
    to legal remedies if there is any “substantial infringement” of those rights, including the
    right to have the water preserved “in its natural state of purity, so far as may be
    necessary” for the appropriator’s purposes, citing City of Pasadena v. City of Alhambra
    (1949) 
    33 Cal. 2d 908
    , 926 and Town of Antioch v. Williams Irrigation Dist. (1922) 
    188 Cal. 451
    , 457-458. The City also relies on Wright v. Best (1942) 
    19 Cal. 2d 368
    (Wright),
    in which the court restated the “established rule” that “[a]ny material deterioration of the
    quality of the stream by subsequent appropriators or others without superior rights
    entitles [the earlier appropriator] to both injunctive and legal relief.” (Id. at p. 378,
    italics added.)
    59
    The City more pointedly argues there is ample authority for its claim that the
    release of hazardous waste into the environment itself constitutes harm to property. For
    this proposition, the City cites AIU Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (1990) 
    51 Cal. 3d 807
    , 842
    (AIU); Aerojet-General Corp. v. Superior Court (1989) 
    211 Cal. App. 3d 216
    , 229
    (Aerojet); and 
    Transwestern, supra
    , 46 Cal.App.4th at p. 524.
    In Aerojet and AIU the insureds were companies that became liable for costs
    incurred by, or required by, governmental agencies for remediation of polluted soil and
    groundwater. One question posed was whether these costs were covered by their general
    liability policies, pursuant to the “property damage” clause.23 Among other arguments,
    the insurance companies asserted that agency-imposed liability for the cost of cleaning up
    pollution released into the environment is not “property damage.” 
    (Aerojet, supra
    , 211
    Cal.App.3d at pp. 223-224, 227-230; 
    AIU, supra
    , 51 Cal.3d at pp. 821, 830, 831, 834-
    835.) The courts rejected this claim. As the court in Aerojet explained: “The state’s
    property interest in groundwater, . . . is no less usufructuary than that of private
    ownership, and public waters may be duly used, regulated and controlled in the public
    interest. [Citations.] …. [¶] Pollution of the ground and river waters is damage to public
    property, as well as a direct injury to public welfare. [Citations.] [T]he great weight of
    authority hold[s] environmental contamination to be ‘property damage.’ [Citation.]”
    
    (Aerojet, supra
    , 211 Cal.App.3d at pp. 229-230; 
    AIU, supra
    , 51 Cal.3d at p. 842
    [contamination of the environment is property damage].)
    In Transwestern, a transporter of natural gas in pipelines sued Monsanto, the
    manufacturer of a product containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), for indemnity.
    Transwestern delivered natural gas to Southern California Gas (SoCalGas). Monsanto’s
    product, used by Transwestern in its gas compressor, leaked into its pipes ultimately
    23
    In AIU the contract provided coverage for “ ‘all sums which [the insured] shall
    be obligated to pay by reason of the liability…imposed upon [the insured] by law…for
    damages, . . . and expenses, . . . on account of . . . property damages. . . .’ ” (
    AIU, supra
    ,
    51 Cal.3d at pp. 814-815.) The Aerojet contract provided coverage for “ ‘all sums which
    the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of injury
    to…property.’ ” 
    (Aerojet, supra
    , 211 Cal.App.3d at p. 222 [emphasis removed].)
    60
    resulting in PCB pollution of SoCalGas’s pipelines. Although PCB posed no danger
    from its mere presence in the pipes, it mixed with condensation naturally found in the
    pipes, which had to be removed from the pipes on a regular basis. Consequently, the gas
    company was required by federal regulations to take special precautions when removing
    and disposing of the condensate and to monitor PCB levels. (
    Transwestern, supra
    , 46
    Cal.App.4th at p. 510.) Transwestern and SoCalGas reached a settlement as to how to
    share the additional costs of handling the polluted material and of monitoring the PCB’s.
    Transwestern then successfully sued Monsanto for equitable indemnity for the past and
    future expenses related to the PCB pollution upon the theories of strict products liability
    and negligence (failure to warn). (Id. at p. 511.)
    Monsanto argued on appeal that the costs of managing the pollution were
    economic losses, and not compensation for property damage. Monsanto contended that
    the presence of PCB’s from its product in the pipes did not “cause damage to SoCalGas’s
    property because “[t]he pipes still piped, the pumps still pumped and the meters still
    metered just as well as they had before. The only harm to SoCalGas was the increased
    cost of performing the routine business operation of collecting, storing and disposing of
    the pipeline condensate once it was discovered the condensate contained PCB’s. In other
    words, the ‘damage’ to SoCalGas was to its profits, not its property.” (
    Transwestern, supra
    , 46 Cal.App.4th at p. 524.) After reviewing cases from California and other state
    and federal courts (id. at pp. 527-530), the court rejected Monsanto’s argument,
    concluding that the harm to SoCalGas “was clearly in the nature of property damage
    because the PCB’s contaminated the SoCalGas pipelines and the condensate within the
    pipelines, both of which were the property of SoCalGas.” (Id. at p. 530.) Monsanto, the
    court concluded, was confusing the measure of damages with the nature of the damage.
    In explanation, the court quoted from Northridge Co. v. W.R. Grace and Co. (Wis. 1991)
    
    471 N.W.2d 179
    , 186, a Wisconsin Supreme Court case which affirmed that costs of
    removal and replacement of asbestos were recoverable under a negligence theory. “
    ‘While economic loss is measured by repair costs, replacement costs, loss of profits or
    diminution of value, the measure of damages does not determine whether the complaint is
    61
    for physical harm or economic loss. . . . In other words, the fact that the measure of the
    plaintiff’s damages is economic does not transform the nature of its injury into a solely
    economic loss. . . . Physical harm to property may be measured by the cost of repairing
    the buildings to make them safe.’ [Citation].” (Transwestern, at p. 531.) SoCalGas
    attempted to remove the PCB’s from the pipe walls, but could not, and so had to use
    special precautions in handling and disposing of the condensate. “[T]he costs of both
    activities are recoverable as property damage. . . .” (Ibid.; and see, 
    SFUSD, supra
    , 37
    Cal.App.4th at p. 1333 [costs incurred for remediation of contamination resulting from
    friable asbestos is actionable under negligence and strict liability theories].)
    The Transwestern court also affirmed the award for future costs of remediation.
    Monsanto claimed they were speculative, but the court concluded that it was “reasonably
    certain” SoCalGas would incur those expenses in the foreseeable future, and the exact
    amount of those expenses need not be capable of precise measurement. “Courts in
    similar cases have routinely awarded damages for the projected costs of remedying
    pollution. [Citations.].” (
    Transwestern, supra
    , 46 Cal.App.4th at pp. 532-533.)
    Based upon this triad of cases the City argues that contamination of the
    groundwater over which the City holds an appropriative property right, as well as
    contamination of its property (easements) is, itself, physical harm. Consequently, the
    City contends, the trial court incorrectly ruled that the contamination must pose a present
    threat to its municipal supply wells, or interfere with the use of its easements, in order to
    prove that it has been harmed.
    In its responding brief defendants claim only that the City “erroneous[ly]”
    characterized the trial court’s ruling. According to defendants, the City is incorrectly
    asserting that the court “limit[ed] the City to damage claims where PCE exceeded the
    MCL in City water wells . . . or would do so imminently,” when in fact the court
    “broadly” allowed the City to claim damages “wherever groundwater to be used by City
    residents imminently threatened to exceed the MCL.” This contention is at best
    confusing. In making that claim defendants do not cite to the trial court’s ruling, but to
    isolated excerpts from the lengthy oral argument on the motion and to the jury instruction
    62
    used to define “[h]arm to City property.” But, for the directed verdict motion, the
    court—at defendants’ urging—used a different definition of harm to the City’s property:
    it ruled that, for a jury to find the City’s water rights had been damaged or interfered
    with, the City must show “[a]t a minimum, there would have to be an imminent threat to
    a municipality’s drinking water” meaning, to municipal supply wells. Later in the brief,
    defendants more accurately (but inconsistently) state that the nonsuit was granted because
    contamination at the ten sites did not then threaten municipal supply wells.
    With respect to contamination of the easements, defendants do not counter the
    City’s legal argument that the soil contamination is itself property damage, but merely
    restate the trial court’s finding that the City had not shown “harm from PCE to its sewers,
    streets, or soil.”
    3. Analysis
    As a preliminary matter, we are troubled by what appears to be a procedural
    whipsaw. Prior to trial, the court squarely ruled that a City can prove “appreciable harm”
    if the City convinces a jury that there was PCE contamination in the aquifer that “caused
    [the City] to act, or reasonably should have caused it to act, in response to the
    contamination.” 24 At trial, the City presented evidence that there is PCE exceeding the
    MCL in the soil at all of the sites and in groundwater at most of the sites, and the City’s
    expert testified that these levels of contamination, pursuant to state standards, required
    remediation. Only after the evidence was closed, and defendants filed their motion for
    directed verdict, did the judge conclude that reasonable actions taken in response to
    contamination, alone, were not enough.
    Further, on this record, it appears the trial court should not have taken the issue
    away from the jury because the agreed-upon jury instruction on “harm” was not the same
    24
    In fact, the defendants sought to exclude evidence of any damages for
    “[p]otential [f]uture [c]ontamination of [w]ater [w]ells,” and the City made clear it was
    seeking damages only for “ ‘the costs of remediating actual, appreciable, measurable
    quantities of PCE present in soil and groundwater on City property,’ ” and “ ‘[n]o expert
    has proposed to testify regarding “fear of future wellhead treatment costs.” ’ ”
    63
    as that applied by the court in directing a verdict. The instruction read: “Harm is present
    physical injury to City property. The City does not own any groundwater. Rather, in this
    case, the City has a property interest in groundwater that will be delivered to City
    residents. This property interest is harmed when the groundwater to be used by City
    residents exceeds or is imminently threatened to exceed a PCE concentration of five parts
    per billion. . . .” (Italics added.) This is different from the court’s directed verdict
    standard which required an imminent threat to the city’s drinking water— specifically, to
    its municipal supply wells. While the jury might have concluded that “groundwater to be
    used by City residents” actually meant only groundwater that was in, or imminently about
    to enter a well, such a conclusion was not compelled by the evidence nor by the wording
    of the instruction.
    Neither of these issues, however, has been briefed so we will not consider them as
    grounds for reversal of the court’s order.
    As to the merits of the appeal, defendants have chosen not to meet the legal issue
    raised in the opening brief, viz., whether contamination of groundwater in which a city
    has appropriative rights, and contamination of a city’s other property interests (i.e., its
    easements) itself constitutes harm, irrespective of whether the contamination constitutes
    an imminent threat to wells, and irrespective of whether the contamination has caused
    separate damage to the city’s infrastructure or interfered with the use of its easements.25
    Defendants do not explain why the holdings in Santa Clara and Aas—which were
    rejected twice by the trial court as inapposite (even while granting defendants’ motion)—
    should nevertheless apply here, rather than AIU, Aerojet, and Transwestern, cited by the
    City, which hold that contamination of soil and groundwater is property damage. (See
    also, 
    SFUSD, supra
    , 37 Cal.App.4th at p. 1335 [appreciable harm occurs when asbestos
    becomes friable and causes “contamination”].) Instead, defendants simply repeat the trial
    25
    Defendants do point out that nonsuits were granted on other grounds with
    respect to some defendants as to five of the disputed sites, and the City concedes the
    point.
    64
    court’s conclusion that the directed verdict was properly ordered because the evidence
    showed the contamination in and around the 14 sites did not threaten any wells. As we
    are “not required to examine undeveloped claims or to supply arguments for the litigants”
    (Allen v. City of Sacramento (2015) 
    234 Cal. App. 4th 41
    , 52), we will treat the legal
    points as conceded, and vacate the order granting the directed verdict.26
    E. Statute of Limitations for Claims Regarding Elwood’s Sites
    1. Procedural Background
    At the Phase 3 trial, the jury heard evidence about PCE contamination from many
    dry cleaning sites, including a group of three sites referred to as the Elwood’s Group.
    Defendants contended the City’s claims as to this group of sites was barred by the three-
    year statute of limitations for injury to real property. (Code Civ. Proc., § 338, subd. (b).)
    In the verdict forms, the jury was asked in question 1.1, “Have the defendants proved that
    the City’s claimed harm in relation to the Elwood’s Group occurred before December 3,
    1995?” The jury unanimously answered, “Yes.” The jury was then asked in question 1.2
    whether the City knew, before December 3, 1995, of facts that would cause a reasonable
    person to know or suspect that someone’s wrongful conduct caused harm to Modesto
    groundwater intended for use by Modesto residents, that the harm consisted of
    contamination of the groundwater with PCE concentrations “exceeding or imminently
    threatened to exceed 5 ppb,” and that the harm actually existed before December 3, 1995.
    The jury was unable to reach a verdict as to this question. As to damages, the jury found
    the City’s reasonable costs for investigating and developing an appropriate remedy were
    $320,000, and that its future remediation costs would be $18 million.
    26
    With respect to contamination of the soil in the City’s easements, defendants
    merely repeat the trial court’s finding that the City failed to “present evidence of harm
    [other than contamination itself] from PCE to its sewers, streets, or soil.” Having
    presented no contrary argument to plaintiffs’ legal theory, we need not address this
    further.
    Upon remand these issues may become moot if, as the City has hinted, it proceeds
    only on the reinstated nuisance and Polanco Act causes of action.
    65
    The City brought a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) as to
    question 1.1, contending defendants had failed to submit expert testimony to support their
    statute of limitations defense. The trial court denied the motion.27 The City contends this
    ruling was erroneous.
    “ ‘ “ ‘The scope of appellate review of a trial court’s denial of a motion for
    judgment notwithstanding the verdict is to determine whether there is any substantial
    evidence, contradicted or uncontradicted, supporting the jury’s conclusion and where so
    found, to uphold the trial court’s denial of the motion.’ ” [Citation.]’ [Citation.]”
    (Carrau v. Marvin Lumber & Cedar Co. (2001) 
    93 Cal. App. 4th 281
    , 289.)
    The jury was instructed on harm as follows: “Harm is present physical injury to
    City property. The City does not own any groundwater. Rather, in this case, the City has
    a property interest in groundwater that will be delivered to City residents. This property
    interest is harmed when the groundwater to be used by City residents exceeds or is
    imminently threatened to exceed a PCE concentration of five parts per billion, the legal
    maximum of water that can be distributed for human consumption.” The evidence
    showed that one of the Elwood’s sites is approximately 2,000 feet from the nearest well,
    Well 2.28 The City contends that, as a matter of law, the jury could not find that it
    suffered harm before December 1995, as defined in the instruction, in the absence of
    expert testimony about the rate of migration of PCE through soil and into groundwater to
    help it determine whether PCE contamination had spread far enough by that date to
    27
    The trial court also granted defendants’ motion for judgment as to question 1.2,
    ruling that the City had failed to plead or prove facts showing how and when it
    discovered its claim with respect to the Elwood’s sites. The City contends on appeal that
    this motion should have been denied as moot because the delayed discovery rule applies
    only if accrual would otherwise bar an action, but does not raise any substantive
    challenges to this ruling.
    28
    The evidence often refers to only one of the three Elwood’s sites. For purposes
    of the question before us, it is not necessary to identify which site is being referred to.
    However, it appears only two of the sites were being considered as sources of
    contamination.
    66
    threaten imminent exceedance of the MCL in Well 2. The City does not dispute that the
    jury received expert evidence regarding PCE contamination at the Elwood’s site and its
    effect on Well 2, but contends that evidence did not sufficiently address the effects of the
    contamination before December 1995.
    2. Evidence at Trial
    The trial exhibits include two reports regarding PCE contamination as a result of
    activities at the Elwood’s site. The first of them, entitled “City of Modesto Ground-
    Water Investigation,” dated October 30, 1989, was prepared by Radian Corporation for
    the Toxic Substances Control Division of the State Department of Health Services (the
    Radian report). This report indicated that PCE had been found in samples taken from
    Well 2 at concentrations of 0.98 and 1.0 parts per billion. The Elwood’s site had elevated
    soil vapors of 183 parts per billion of TCE and greater than 100 parts per million
    (100,000 parts per billion) of PCE.
    The second report is the “Modesto Well Investigation Summary,” dated January 7,
    1992, prepared by the Central Valley Region of the California Regional Water Quality
    Control Board (the RWQCB report). The purpose of the RWQCB’s investigation was
    “to determine sources of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination” in various Modesto
    wells, including Well 2. The report noted that Elwood’s had been in business since 1953,
    that it used PCE as a dry cleaning agent, and that wastewater containing PCE was
    discharged to the sewer.29 The Elwood’s site was contaminated.
    The RWQCB had conducted soil surveys around Well 2 in 1991, and found
    several “PCE plumes.” Plume 1, which originated near Elwood’s, turned southwest
    toward Well 2. A chart indicated the plume was approximately one mile in length. The
    report explained that Plume 1 and Plume 2, “are really one plume (Plume 1-2) that starts
    in the general area between Deluxe Cleaners and Elwood’s Dry Cleaning Service. The
    29
    Another Elwood’s site began operations in 1980. According to an expert,
    multiple, large releases of PCE emanated from that location. The contamination was
    calculated to have traveled 1,500 feet in 15 years, based on estimates of groundwater
    velocities.
    67
    results also corroborate previous findings by staff that PCE comes out of sewer lines,
    either in gaseous or aqueous phase or both, and contaminates ground water.” Elwood’s
    was identified as one of two sources of Plume 1-2, “which is the probable source of PCE
    contamination in Well 2.” A map in the report graphically depicts the edge of a massive
    plume almost touching Well 2.
    Anthony Brown, an expert for the City, testified at trial that the releases at the
    Elwood’s site threatened Well 2, which was the closest well in a downgradient direction.
    The Elwood’s site contained concentrations of PCE “orders of magnitude” higher than
    the threshold for requiring remediation. Brown explained that, “The higher the
    concentration of the contaminant, the larger the sources of contaminant which can impact
    the groundwater. Therefore, there is more pollution in the actual groundwater.” A
    greater concentration of the contaminant leads to a longer plume of contamination, which
    is more likely to reach a drinking water well.
    Brown’s testimony was primarily based on conditions between 2000 and 2003,
    when he conducted an investigation on behalf of the City. However, when questioned
    about the Radian report, Brown confirmed that the soil gas concentration in 1989 was
    more than 14 times greater than it was in 2000 to 2003. The jury also heard other expert
    testimony that, generally, PCE vapors can sink into the water table and condense,
    contaminating groundwater.
    3. Analysis
    As we discussed in connection with the directed verdict motion, the City has taken
    the position that “appreciable harm” occurs not just when the PCE in a well has exceeded
    or is about to exceed the MCL, but when the contamination in the aquifer from which
    Modesto draws its water and in the soils in the City’s easements is at such a high
    concentration as to require remediation in order to protect the drinking water supply and
    exposure to PCE in and around the easements. The City has nonetheless argued on
    appeal that defendants did not present sufficient evidence to prove that the PCE in Well 2
    would exceed or imminently exceed the MCL before December 1995. The City candidly
    acknowledged at oral argument that under its own definition of “appreciable harm” it
    68
    would be very difficult to avoid a statute of limitations defense at the Elwood’s sites, but
    did not concede the point. We shall, accordingly, adjudicate the issue as it has been
    presented to us.
    The City contends the evidence summarized above is insufficient to support the
    jury’s finding that its harm in relation to the Elwood’s sites occurred before December 3,
    1995. Rather, the City argues, it was incumbent upon defendants to provide expert
    testimony on the migration of PCE through soil and into groundwater, and the rate and
    timing of contamination necessary to become an imminent threat to Well 2. We reject
    this contention. As we have already described, the jury was instructed that the City’s
    property interest was harmed when “the groundwater to be used by City residents
    exceeds or is imminently threatened to exceed a PCE concentration of five parts per
    billion,” and the City does not challenge this instruction. There was evidence, both in the
    form of the Radian report and Brown’s expert testimony, that PCE levels in the soil at the
    Elwood’s site in 1989 were extremely high. As of 1991, a long plume of PCE
    contamination in the soil had formed, moving to the area around Well 2. Expert
    testimony explained how PCE traveled through soil and into groundwater, and in fact, by
    1989 PCE was present, albeit below the MCL, in samples of water in Well 2. This
    evidence is sufficient to support the jury’s finding.
    The case of Bowman v. City of Berkeley (2004) 
    122 Cal. App. 4th 572
    , cited by the
    City, does not require a different result. In Bowman, neighbors asserted an environmental
    impact report (EIR) should have been prepared for a proposed project in their
    neighborhood. One argument was that an adjacent parcel had been contaminated by
    leaking underground storage tanks, and examination of the impacts of hazardous material
    on the project was required. (Id. at p. 582) The record, however, contained reports
    showing that the site had been remediated and that monitoring over a seven-year period
    indicated the remaining contamination was confined to the site. (Id. at p. 581.) The
    neighbors interpreted the reports differently and opined it was reasonable to assume the
    contamination might have spread to the project site. (Id. at p. 582.) This court concluded
    that the neighbors’ interpretation of the reports did not constitute substantial evidence to
    69
    support a fair argument that an EIR was required, because “a complex scientific issue
    such as the migration of chemicals through land calls for expert evaluation” and the
    neighbors had no such expertise. (Id., at p. 583; see also McCoy v. Gustafson (2009) 
    180 Cal. App. 4th 56
    , 100 [lay opinion on subject of migration of hydrocarbons through soil
    and interpretation of soil borings properly excluded].)
    Here, in contrast, we are not examining whether the lay opinions of individuals
    should be given credence, or whether a lay witness can opine on scientific matters.
    Instead, we are reviewing the fact-finding of a jury which heard weeks of testimony,
    including expert evidence and reports describing the nature and extent of the soil
    contamination, how contamination moves through the subsurface, into the groundwater,
    and eventually to City wells, and the speed at which the contaminants can move with the
    groundwater. If, as a matter of law, more specific expert testimony was required in order
    for the jury to answer the question submitted to it by the parties—whether PCE
    contamination of the “groundwater to be used by City residents” was exceeding or on the
    verge of exceeding legal limits before December of 1995—the City was free either to
    supply that expert testimony or to seek a directed verdict based on insufficiency of the
    evidence. It did neither, and we are not permitted to overturn a jury’s verdict if there is
    any substantial evidence to support it. (Hope v. California Youth Authority (2005) 
    134 Cal. App. 4th 577
    , 589.) Consequently, in the absence of legal error the verdict must be
    affirmed.
    F. Equitable Remedies at Phase II Sites
    In its 2007 statement of decision at the conclusion of the Phase II trial, the court
    ruled that the RDA had proven its Polanco Act claim against defendants at the Modesto
    Steam site. As part of its statement of decision, the court directed that, when judgment
    was entered it would include an order enjoining Modesto Steam, Dow, Street and others
    to “comply with all future PCE remediation orders of the DTSC and the Regional Water
    Quality Control Board at the Modesto Steam site, subject to the right to challenge such
    orders in this Court, under such procedures as may be set forth in the injunction.” The
    court explained: “Injunctive relief compelling defendants to remove or remediate
    70
    contamination is appropriate under [Civil Code section 3422], particularly given the fact
    that future costs would be extremely difficult to ascertain at sites where regulatory
    agencies are acting but have not yet approved a final plan.” Moreover, according to the
    court, “In the absence of injunctive relief, Modesto Steam is free to abandon voluntary
    efforts and force new litigation in order to obtain a remedy,” and “[t]he manufacturer
    defendants have consistently denied any responsibility for contamination at the Modesto
    Steam site, and injunctive relief is therefore both necessary and warranted with respect to
    these defendants.”
    The court also found the City had proven its HSAA claims against Halford’s, and
    ruled that, “at the appropriate time” the court will enter a declaratory judgment that
    Halford’s will be liable to the City for its future remediation costs, if any, at that site, and
    will “enjoin [Halford’s] to comply with all future PCE remediation orders issued by [state
    agencies] . . . subject to [its] right to challenge such orders in this Court. . . .”
    In 2011, in Phase V of this case, the trial court heard evidence as to whether
    equitable relief with respect to the Modesto Steam and Halford’s sites was still necessary.
    The court issued its statement of decision on November 14, 2011. It noted that in the
    years since the Phase 2 decision, Modesto Steam had made significant remediation
    efforts under the oversight of the Regional Board, and that the EPA was acting as the
    primary remediating party at the Halford’s site, a federal Superfund site. Thus, the court
    concluded, the issue before it was whether there was a present need for equitable relief
    under Civil Code section 3422.30
    The dispute as to the continuing necessity of injunctive relief as to the Halford’s
    site centered on the City’s future liability for potential contamination of the City’s
    30
    Civil Code section 3422 authorizes injunctive relief “to prevent the breach of an
    obligation existing in favor of the applicant: [¶] 1. Where pecuniary compensation
    would not afford adequate relief; [¶] 2. Where it would be extremely difficult to ascertain
    the amount of compensation which would afford adequate relief; [¶] 3. Where the
    restraint is necessary to prevent a multiplicity of judicial proceedings; or, [¶] 4. Where
    the obligation arises from a trust.”
    71
    Municipal Well number 7 (Well 7), and its future liability in general. As to Well 7, the
    court concluded, “equitable relief is appropriate only if plaintiffs demonstrate it is
    presently warranted by establishing all three of the following facts: 1) Well 7 will likely
    be contaminated by the Halford’s plume; 2) the EPA will not remediate this
    contamination; and 3) settlement credits attributable to the Halford’s site are insufficient
    to cover future response costs.” The court reviewed the evidence and concluded Well 7
    was not likely to be threatened by the Halford’s plume.31 The court also noted that
    “[e]ven if plaintiffs establish Well 7 will likely be contaminated by the Halford’s plume,
    equitable relief is only warranted if the EPA’s ongoing remediation efforts will not
    already address such contamination,” and pointed to the evidence that the EPA was likely
    to “finish the job.”
    Finally, the court stated, even if Well 7 was contaminated by the Halford’s plume
    and the EPA failed or refused to remediate Well 7, the available settlement credits of
    $3.36 million attributable to the Halford’s site would be sufficient to cover those costs.
    The trial court also found the City had not shown it was likely to face responsibility for
    remediation costs at the Halford’s site in general through future litigation. The court
    concluded: “[P]laintiffs have not indicated whether any amount of pecuniary
    compensation would be necessary to afford adequate relief, whether such compensation
    would be difficult to ascertain, or whether the absence of equitable relief would lead to a
    multiplicity of judicial proceedings, thereby failing to establish any of the Section 3422
    factors. In contrast, defendants have established the improbability that Well 7 will be
    contaminated or that plaintiffs would face future litigation. Defendants have also
    established the probability that the EPA will complete remediation of the Halford’s
    plume, thereby demonstrating how the status quo substantially achieves the Phase 2
    Decision’s goal to shield plaintiffs from future response costs at the Halford’s site.
    Accordingly, the Court declines to grant any equitable relief at the Halford’s site.”
    31
    The court found plaintiffs’ witnesses on this issue unpersuasive.
    72
    The court next considered the necessity of injunctive relief regarding the MSL
    site, which had contaminated the City’s Municipal Well number 3 (Well 3). The court
    noted that plaintiffs had received an award of $1,079,000 in Phase 1 for the past and
    future costs of treating Well 3, and $349,808.05 in Phase 2 for past response costs, and
    that these awards were “within the ballpark of the City’s actual costs.” Moreover, MSL
    had been carrying out soil remediation under the Regional Board’s oversight, and this
    remediation was “virtually complete.” The evidence showed that filtering Well 3 could
    remediate the groundwater plume, and plaintiffs had “an award for future costs for Well 3
    as well as millions of dollars in settlements attributable to this site.” Accordingly, the
    court concluded, equitable relief as to the MSL site was unnecessary.
    Our review of the court’s ruling is highly deferential. “The grant or denial of a
    permanent injunction rests within the trial court’s sound discretion and will not be
    disturbed on appeal absent a showing of a clear abuse of discretion.” (Horsford v. Board
    of Trustees of California State University (2005) 
    132 Cal. App. 4th 359
    , 390.) “[A]
    change in circumstances which renders injunctive relief unnecessary justifies denial of
    the remedy. [Citation.]” (East Bay Mun. Utility Dist. v. Department of Forestry & Fire
    Protection (1996) 
    43 Cal. App. 4th 1113
    , 1126.)
    The City does not challenge the standard of review, but argues only that “a
    discretionary ruling, ‘reasonable’ on its own terms, is subject to reversal ‘when it starts
    from a mistaken premise….’ [Citation].” The problem with the City’s argument is that it
    has not identified a legally sound “mistaken premise.”
    Against the trial court’s detailed findings, the City makes a single, cursory
    argument: that “[t]he trial court’s test for equitable relief was whether Modesto faced a
    sufficient risk of future clean-up costs to warrant equitable protection from that risk,” and
    that it is “unconscionable” to deny equitable relief if there is any such risk. The City cites
    no authority for the proposition that the trial court must grant injunctive relief if there is
    any risk, however slight, that it will be subject to cleanup costs in the future, and we may
    accordingly treat the issue as forfeited. (See Nickell v. Matlock (2012) 
    206 Cal. App. 4th 934
    , 947 [conclusory assertion unsupported by authority treated as forfeited].)
    73
    In any case, we are not persuaded. The court explained in detail that the Halford’s
    site was unlikely to contaminate Well 7, that the EPA could be expected to complete the
    remediation it had begun, and plaintiffs had not shown the settlement money attributable
    to the Halford’s site would be insufficient in the event Well 7 was contaminated and the
    EPA did not remediate it. It also explained that the soil remediation at the MSL site was
    nearly complete, that the City had been awarded money to cover the costs of remediating
    the groundwater plume by filtering Well 3, and that “millions of dollars” in settlement
    funds were also available.32 The City does not challenge these factual findings, and it has
    not shown that the trial court abused its discretion in concluding that, in light of these
    facts, there was no present need for injunctive relief.
    G. Allocation of Settlement Credits
    The City asserts as error the trial court’s decision to grant to defendants credit for
    100 percent of the settlement funds for all contaminated sites against defendants’ liability
    at only three sites. The City argues that the majority of the settlement funds were
    allocated to specific sites, and should be applied exclusively to those locations. 33
    Because we have reversed some of the Phase III and all of the Phase IV rulings,
    the matter of credits, like the issue of costs, must necessarily be vacated as well. The
    issue, however, is likely to arise again after further proceedings, so we address it here for
    the guidance of the trial court.
    32
    The parties dispute how settlement credits should be allocated (see § IV.G,
    post) and in our view it is unlikely that “millions” of dollars would be available to the
    City from the settlement funds allocated to the MSL site. It was the City’s position
    below that there was $2.277 million in settlement funds allocable to MSL, against which
    defendants would be entitled to credits for the damages awarded against them. The City,
    however, makes no argument with respect to this issue nor does it contend that the
    settlement funds will not cover the potential future costs at Well 3.
    33
    Although the focus of the City’s argument in its opening brief was that the
    citywide injunction it requested should reflect the proper allocation of settlement credits,
    the City also asked us to correct the trial court’s ruling on settlement credits “no matter
    how else [we] decide[] this appeal.” Although we will not order the injunctive relief the
    City seeks, we conclude this issue is properly before us, and we will address it for the
    guidance of the trial court on remand.
    74
    1. Procedural Background
    As has been described in various parts of this opinion, the City sued defendants for
    the contamination they allegedly caused at numerous dry cleaner sites throughout
    Modesto. Defendants Dow, PPG and Street were sued for damages at all of the sites.
    The extensive record reflects, and the parties do not dispute, that the case was litigated on
    a site-by-site basis. So, for example, in Phase I the parties litigated most of the claims
    relating to only six sites, and the jury verdict was rendered on a site-by-site basis. The
    alleged damages at approximately 40 other sites were litigated in Phase III. In that phase,
    various nonsuit and directed verdict rulings as well as jury findings were all made on a
    site-by-site basis. It will be recalled that the appealing defendants were found liable for
    damages at only four sites, MSL, Halford’s, Ideal and Coffee Plaza.
    During the course of the litigation, the City entered into settlement agreements
    with many of the defendants. Most of those settlement proceeds were expressly allocated
    to particular sites, but some were not. We shall assume—as it has been neither argued
    nor contested—that the settlements that were allocated received the court’s imprimatur as
    having been made in good faith, pursuant to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure
    section 877 et seq. As to the settlements that were not allocated, it appears the issue of
    allocation had not been raised at the time these were presented to the court for good faith
    approval.
    One of the issues the trial court faced in the Phase V trial was what portion of the
    settlement proceeds were available to the non-settling defendants as credits. Plaintiffs
    took the position that “settlements . . . allocated to specific sites should be honored[, and
    w]here settlements were not specifically allocated . . . the Court should apply the same
    formula used by the settling parties . . . [which] formula was approved by the Court when
    it entered good faith orders approving settlements with allocations.” Defendants argued
    that, because they were “ ‘potentially liable for the same injury to the plaintiff[s]’ ” as
    were the settling defendants, no allocation was needed, quoting Alcal Roofing &
    Insulation v. Superior Court (1992) 
    8 Cal. App. 4th 1121
    , 1124 (Alcal). Defendants also
    contended that all settlement proceeds could be reallocated from the sites where
    75
    defendants were exonerated from liability to the sites where they were found liable, citing
    El Escorial Owners’ Assn. v. DLC Plastering, Inc. (2007) 
    154 Cal. App. 4th 1337
    , 1350-
    1351 (El Escorial).
    The trial court agreed with defendants. It reasoned that under Code of Civil
    Procedure section 877, offsets “are ultimately claimed by parties and not by sites,” and
    concluded, “defendants were manufacturers or distributors of products throughout
    Modesto who were potentially liable for the torts of all settling parties.[] Thus,
    defendants…may claim an offset of all settlements up to a total of $37,225,000.00, which
    reflects the sum of settlements by sixteen defendants, . . .”
    2. Legal Principles
    Code of Civil Procedure sections 877 and 877.6 established two competing
    policies: (1) the equitable sharing of costs among the parties at fault and (2) the
    encouragement of settlements. 34 (Erreca’s v. Superior Court (1993) 
    19 Cal. App. 4th 1475
    , 1487 (Erreca’s).) “ ‘Section 877 establishes that a good faith settlement bars other
    34
    Code of Civil Procedure section 877 provides, in pertinent part: “Where a
    release…is given in good faith before verdict or judgment to one or more of a number of
    tortfeasors claimed to be liable for the same tort, or to one or more other co-obligors
    mutually subject to contribution rights, it shall have the following effect: [¶] (a) It shall
    not discharge any other such party from liability unless its terms so provide, but it shall
    reduce the claims against the others in the amount stipulated by the release, the dismissal
    or the covenant, or in the amount of the consideration paid for it, whichever is greater.
    [¶] (b) It shall discharge the party to whom it is given from all liability for any
    contribution to any other parties. . . .”
    As relevant here, Code of Civil Procedure section 877.6 provides: “(a) Any party
    to an action in which it is alleged that two or more parties are joint tortfeasors or co-
    obligors on a contract debt shall be entitled to a hearing on the issue of the good faith of a
    settlement entered into by the plaintiff or other claimant and one or more alleged
    tortfeasors or co-obligors….” [¶] (2) In the alternative, a settling party may give notice
    of settlement to all parties and to the court, together with an application for determination
    of good faith settlement and a proposed order. The application shall indicate the settling
    parties, and the basis, terms, and amount of the settlement. …. If none of the nonsettling
    parties files a motion [within a specified period] the court may approve the settlement.
    …. [¶] …. [¶] (c) A determination by the court that the settlement was made in good
    faith shall bar any other joint tortfeasor or co-obligor from any further claims against the
    76
    defendants from seeking contribution from the settling defendant [citation], but at the
    same time provides that the plaintiff’s claims against the other defendants are to be
    reduced by “the amount of consideration paid for” the settlement [citation]. Thus, while
    a good faith settlement cuts off the right of other defendants to seek contribution or
    comparative indemnity from the settling defendant, the nonsettling defendants obtain in
    return a reduction in their ultimate liability to the plaintiff.’ [Citation.]” (Id. at pp. 1487-
    1488.)
    In a typical one-plaintiff, multiple-defendants personal injury action, all tortfeasors
    are potentially liable for the same injury to the plaintiff, and so the entire amount of any
    settlement by one of the defendants will offset a judgment against the other tortfeasors.
    But in other cases, the amount of the offset is uncertain, for example, where there are
    “multiple plaintiffs or causes of action with different damages,” or where defendants
    have “settl[ed] claims for separate injuries not all of which would be attributable to
    conduct of the remaining defendants.” 
    (Alcal, supra
    , 8 Cal.App.4th at p. 1124; see also,
    L. C. Rudd & Son, Inc. v. Superior Court (1997) 
    52 Cal. App. 4th 742
    , 750 (L. C. Rudd)
    [“Where there are multiple defendants, each having potential liability for different areas
    of damage, an allocation of the settlement amount must be made”].) Such issues often
    arise in construction defect cases where there are different categories or sites of damage
    for which different sets of defendants may be either singly or jointly liable. (See, e.g.,
    Regan Roofing Co. v. Superior Court (1994) 
    21 Cal. App. 4th 1685
    , 1705, fn. 8 (Regan
    Roofing) [explanation of a pro rata formula used to allocate settlement proceeds among
    the various categories of defects in 24 separate homes].) Such allocations are arrived at
    under a set of principles enunciated in Alcal and its progeny.
    In Alcal, a construction defect case, the developer settled with the plaintiff
    homeowners association for $4.4 million, and settled with most of the subcontractors,
    who agreed to contribute almost $1.3 million toward the total. The developer sought, and
    obtained, approval of the settlement agreement’s allocation of only $100,000 to roofing
    settling tortfeasor or co-obligor for equitable comparative contribution, or partial or
    comparative indemnity, based on comparative negligence or comparative fault.”
    77
    issues, and the sole nonsettling defendant, a roofer, challenged the allocation. 
    (Alcal, supra
    , 8 Cal.App.4th at p. 1123.) The appellate court first explained that, “[i]n a situation
    where the cash amount of the settlement does not dictate the amount of the offset, the
    settling parties must include an allocation or a valuation in their agreement.” (Id. at pp.
    1124-1125.) Alcal then laid down the rule that “a party seeking confirmation of a
    settlement must explain to the court and to all other parties not only who has settled with
    whom and for what dollar amount, but whether any settlement is allocated and how the
    allocation has been made between issues and/or parties.” 
    (Erreca’s, supra
    , 19
    Cal.App.4th at p. 1488.) To this rule Erreca’s added the requirement that the party must
    also explain to the court and all other parties “the evidentiary basis for any allocations . . .
    and must demonstrate that the allocation was reached in a sufficiently adversarial manner
    to justify the presumption that a reasonable valuation was reached. [Citation]” (Id. at pp.
    1495-1496.)
    The allocations calculated at the time of the good faith settlement proceedings,
    although presumptively reasonable, may be reallocated when credits are determined after
    trial. (El 
    Escorial, supra
    , 154 Cal.App.4th at p. 1351 [trial court may adjust offsets in
    response to evidence adduced at trial].) In considering those credits, however, the court
    “must take into account not only the policy issues of the good faith settlement approval
    process (i.e., equitable apportionment of liability and promotion of settlements [citation]),
    but also another policy interest, ‘the maximization of recovery to the plaintiff for the
    amount of . . . injury to the extent that negligence or fault of others has contributed to it.’
    [Citation.] Thus, while the nonsettling defendant is entitled to a fair setoff, the injured
    plaintiff also has a right that the setoff not be excessive.” 
    (Erreca’s, supra
    , 19
    Cal.App.4th at p. 1500.)
    3. Analysis
    The trial court relied on the principles that (a) offsets under Code of Civil
    Procedure section 877 are claimed by parties, rather than sites, and (b) joint tortfeasors
    may appropriately claim offsets. From this, the court concluded defendants were entitled
    to claim credits against all settlements for all the sites. We disagree with this approach,
    78
    first, because it ignores the fact that the site allocations were made during the good faith
    settlement process, and are therefore presumptively reasonable. The nonsettling
    defendants have thus been protected by the requirement that any settlement must have
    been made in good faith as the product of adversarial negotiation, and that the allocation
    itself also must have been made in good faith. (Dillingham Construction, N.A., Inc. v.
    Nadel Partnership, Inc. (1998) 
    64 Cal. App. 4th 264
    , 279-281.) In addition, while a trial
    court has the latitude to make reallocations based on evidence adduced at trial, we do not
    think it has the discretion to eliminate or disregard wholesale all allocations on the sole
    basis that the defendants were potentially (but not actually) liable at all sites. El Escorial
    does not compel a different result.
    In that construction defect case, the court approved a number of good faith
    settlements entered into by the primary contractor, Investec, and other contractors and
    subcontractors but no allocations were made at the time of the settlements. Instead, the
    parties agreed to a procedure by which the court, over the course of the trial, would hold
    hearings on apportionment, after which it would make decisions on the allocations. (El
    
    Escorial, supra
    , 154 Cal.App.4th at p. 1345.) The court thereafter, in a series of
    hearings, approved allocations of the settlement amounts, including an allocation for
    toxic mold. (Id. at pp. 1350-1351.) But after trial, the court found that plaintiff had
    failed to prove its claim that defendants were responsible for toxic mold contamination; it
    therefore removed toxic mold as a category of damages and reallocated the amount
    previously allocated to toxic mold to four other settlement categories. (Id. at p. 1347.)
    The plaintiffs challenged that ruling, claiming that allocations could not be modified once
    they were approved. (Id. at p. 1351.) The appellate court rejected that argument,
    reasoning that, since the plaintiff had “received a settlement on a claim for which there
    was no liability,” it was entirely appropriate for the court to adjust the credits. (Id. at
    p. 1352.)
    In this case, the court did not find that the City had “received a settlement on a
    claim for which there was no liability” nor did it remove any category of damages or
    sites. Rather, the court simply concluded that the nonsettling defendants would receive
    79
    credit for the allocations for all other sites because they were found not liable for those
    sites. This result is not supported by El Escorial nor by the realities of settlement
    allocations in this case. Defendants do not claim that the other sites were not damaged by
    the wrongful acts of the settling defendants, so there is no justification for, in effect,
    reallocating those settlement proceeds to the three sites where defendants were held
    liable. This would be contrary to the policy of “ ‘the maximization of recovery to the
    plaintiff for the amount of…injury to the extent that negligence or fault of others has
    contributed to it.’ ” 
    (Erreca’s, supra
    , 19 Cal.App.4th at p. 1500.) It would also run
    contrary to the policy of encouraging settlements. (Id. at p. 1495.) As plaintiffs
    persuasively argue, without reliable allocations it would be “too risky for many plaintiffs
    to settle.”
    The trial court’s reasoning was faulty for other reasons as well. Contrary to the
    court’s theory, nothing in the law prevents the parties to an action from giving credits for
    settlement proceeds by sites (as well as by parties) where the evidentiary record identifies
    damages by site. (See, e.g., Regan 
    Roofing, supra
    , 21 Cal.App.4th at p. 1704.) In
    addition, to the extent the allocated settlement funds were paid by parties who did not
    face liability for the total amount of damages, but only for the sites to which the funds
    were allocated, those defendants were not jointly liable with defendants as to the other
    sites at issue.
    Defendants point out that in both L. C. Rudd and Regan Roofing, the settling
    defendant was a development company, which was potentially liable for all damages, and
    it was the subcontractors—who faced liability for only a portion of the damages—who
    challenged the allocations. (L. C. 
    Rudd, supra
    , 52 Cal.App.4th at p. 750; Regan 
    Roofing, supra
    , 21 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1693-1694.) Because the case before us raises a different
    factual scenario—in which the nonsettling parties were potentially liable for all the
    damages—defendants contend there should be a different result. They argue that,
    because they faced potential liability for all damages claimed by the City, the settlement
    amounts allocated to specific sites should be credited to their actual liability without
    limitation. We have not found any cases raising this fact pattern, and the parties have
    80
    drawn our attention to none. Nor have defendants offered any support in either law or
    policy for their theory, which runs counter to the articulated policies supporting good
    faith settlements.
    We thus conclude that, in the absence of some legally justifiable basis for
    reallocation, defendants are not entitled to credit at the sites for which they were found
    liable unless a good faith settlement agreement allocated funds to that site.35
    As to unallocated settlement sums, because neither party has addressed this issue
    in the briefs on appeal, we shall leave to the trial court the proper treatment of this
    question as it reconsiders the credit issue in its entirety, after all other issues on remand
    have been adjudicated.
    H. Challenges to Cost Awards
    1. Background
    The trial court initially entered judgment on November 15, 2011. The judgment
    included separate prevailing party determinations for Phases I through IV, including the
    following: (1) Plaintiffs City and the RDA were prevailing parties in Phases I and II,
    entitled to recover costs of suit on the complaints from defendants MSL, Halford’s, Dow,
    Street, and PPG. (2) Defendants MSL, Halford’s, Dow, Street, and PPG were prevailing
    parties in Phases III and IV, entitled to recover costs on the complaints from plaintiffs
    City and the RDA. (3) Cross-defendants City, the RDA, and the Sewer District were
    prevailing parties in Phases I and II, entitled to recover their costs on the cross-
    complaints from cross-plaintiffs MSL, Halford’s, Dow, Street, and PPG. (4) The RDA
    was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees as costs of suit under the Polanco Act, which were
    not eligible for settlement offsets, from MSL, Halford’s, Dow, Street, and PPG.
    Defendants moved to set aside and vacate the judgment (Code Civ. Proc., § 663,
    subd. (1)) and to correct clerical mistakes in the judgment (Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd.
    35
    The trial court’s ruling also considered settlement credits for three other
    nonsettling defendants; two of those, MSL and Halford’s, were each liable as to only one
    site. Those defendants are parties to this appeal for only a limited purpose, and their
    allocations are not challenged.
    81
    (d)) on November 30, 2011. In the motion to vacate, defendants argued that all
    defendants were prevailing parties as against the RDA and the Sewer District in all
    respects, and that MSL, Halford’s, and PPG were prevailing parties as against the City in
    all respects.
    The City filed a notice of appeal of the judgment on January 4, 2012.36
    Defendants’ motion was argued the following day, January 5, 2012. The trial court
    entered an amended judgment on May 23, 2012. The amended judgment altered the
    prevailing party determinations in the numerous respects.
    2. Jurisdiction
    The first question we face is whether the January 4, 2012 appeal effected an
    automatic stay of the trial court proceedings, such that the trial court lacked jurisdiction
    to rule on defendants’ motion to vacate or set aside the judgment. An appeal “stays
    proceedings in the trial court upon the judgment or order appealed from or upon the
    matters embraced therein or affected thereby, . . . but the trial court may proceed upon
    any other matter embraced in the action and not affected by the judgment or order.”
    (Code Civ. Proc., § 916, subd. (a).) The purpose of this automatic stay “ ‘is to protect the
    appellate court’s jurisdiction by preserving the status quo until the appeal is decided. The
    [automatic stay] prevents the trial court from rendering an appeal futile by altering the
    appealed judgment or order by conducting other proceedings that may affect it.’
    [Citation.]” (Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino (2005) 
    35 Cal. 4th 180
    , 189
    (Varian).) For this reason, “section 916, subdivision (a) stays all further trial court
    proceedings ‘upon the matters embraced’ in or ‘affected’ by the appeal. In determining
    whether a proceeding is embraced in or affected by the appeal, we must consider the
    appeal and its possible outcomes in relation to the proceeding and its possible results.
    ‘[W]hether a matter is “embraced” in or “affected” by a judgment [or order] within the
    meaning of [section 916] depends on whether postjudgment [or postorder] proceedings
    36
    As cross-defendant, the City filed a notice of appeal on January 17, 2012.
    82
    on the matter would have any effect on the “effectiveness” of the appeal.’ [Citation.] ‘If
    so, the proceedings are stayed; if not, the proceedings are permitted.’ [Citation.]” (Ibid.)
    However, “[t]he fact that the postjudgment or postorder proceeding may render the
    appeal moot is not, by itself, enough to establish that the proceeding affects the
    effectiveness of the appeal and should be stayed under section 916. Rather, something
    more is needed. For example, the trial court proceeding must directly or indirectly seek
    to ‘enforce, vacate or modify [the] appealed judgment or order.’ [Citation.]” 
    (Varian, supra
    , 35 Cal.4th at p. 189, italics added.) For this last example, our high court quoted
    Elsea v. Saberi (1992) 
    4 Cal. App. 4th 625
    , 629, which stated, “The trial court’s power to
    enforce, vacate or modify an appealed judgment or order is suspended while the appeal is
    pending.” (Varian, 35 Cal.4th at pp. 189-190; see also Betz v. Pankow (1993) 
    16 Cal. App. 4th 931
    , 938 [because vacation of judgment would affect its enforcement, “it
    could not be considered a collateral matter over which the trial court could retain
    jurisdiction”].)
    Consistent with this rule, the court in Copley v. Copley (1981) 
    126 Cal. App. 3d 248
    (Copley) concluded that a trial court may not rule on a motion to vacate a judgment while
    an appeal is pending. There, judgment was entered in a trust litigation, and the trustees
    filed a timely notice of appeal. Two other parties thereafter filed a motion to vacate the
    judgment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 473 and 663. The appellate court
    concluded, “At this time the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter because the
    perfecting of an appeal stays proceedings in the trial court upon the judgment appealed
    from [citation]. During the pendency of an appeal, the trial court is without power to hear
    a motion to vacate judgment from which an appeal has been taken [citations].” 
    (Copley, supra
    , at p. 298.) Relying on Copley, the court in Ehret v. Congoleum Corp. (1999) 
    73 Cal. App. 4th 1308
    , 1317 (Ehret), explained, “When an appeal was filed, the effect was to
    ‘ “remove[] from the jurisdiction of the superior court the subject matter of the judgment.
    [Citations.]” ’ [Citations.] ‘During the pendency of an appeal, the trial court is without
    power to hear a motion to vacate judgment from which an appeal has been taken
    [citations].’ 
    (Copley[, supra
    , 126 Cal.App.3d at p. 298].) The point of the rule is to
    83
    preserve the status quo while the appeal is decided. [Citation.]” (See also Lippman v.
    City of Los Angeles (1991) 
    234 Cal. App. 3d 1630
    , 1634 (Lippman) [“This avenue . . . was
    not open to [the parties] because the same day they filed their motion to vacate the
    judgment, PAC filed its notice of appeal thereby depriving the court of jurisdiction to
    vacate its judgment”]; Socol v. King (1949) 
    34 Cal. 2d 292
    , 295 [recognizing that by filing
    notice of appeal, appellant deprived trial court of jurisdiction to act on statutory motion to
    vacate].)
    Defendants attempt to distinguish Copley and Ehret on the ground that they
    involved “long delays before a trial court declined amendment.” This distinction is
    unavailing. The rule of those cases was not based on the length of delay, but on the trial
    court’s loss of jurisdiction once a notice of appeal had been filed.
    Defendants also point out that the Legislature created three post-judgment
    motions—the motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (Code Civ. Proc., § 629),
    for a new trial (id., § 657), and to set aside and vacate the judgment (id., § 663). They
    note that new trial motions are treated as collateral to the judgment and are allowed to
    proceed despite an appeal from the judgment, and argue that statutory motions to vacate
    the judgment should be treated the same way. (See 
    Varian, supra
    , 35 Cal.4th at p. 191
    [“[A] motion for a new trial is collateral to the judgment and may proceed despite an
    appeal from the judgment”]; accord Neff v. Ernst (1957) 
    48 Cal. 2d 628
    , 634 [“A motion
    for new trial is recognized to be a matter collateral to the judgment and the trial court
    retains jurisdiction to hear and determine a motion for new trial after an appeal has been
    taken from the judgment”].) Similarly, it was held in Foggy v. Ralph F. Clark &
    Associates, Inc. (1987) 
    192 Cal. App. 3d 1204
    , 1210-1213, that a trial court had
    jurisdiction to enter a JNOV while an appeal was pending. The court noted that a new
    trial motion was considered collateral to the judgment, and reasoned, “We are at a loss to
    understand how a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict can be considered as
    concerned with ‘matters embraced’ in or ‘affected’ by the judgment appealed from, while
    a motion for new trial is not. It is for this reason that we hold a motion for judgment
    notwithstanding the verdict is, just as a motion for new trial, a matter collateral to the
    84
    judgment. This ruling, just as the Legislature intended, enables the trial court to consider
    both a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a motion for new trial at the
    same time and avoids what would otherwise be the absurd result of depriving a party of a
    postjudgment remedy authorized by the Legislature.” (Id. at p. 1213.)
    Defendants argue this analysis should apply with equal force to a statutory motion
    to set aside or vacate a judgment. Whether or not that is so, we are constrained by the
    rule enunciated by our high court in Varian, as well as by lower courts in Copley and
    Ehret, that a trial court loses jurisdiction to vacate or amend a judgment upon the
    perfecting of an appeal. 
    (Varian, supra
    , 35 Cal.4th at pp. 189-190; 
    Copley, supra
    , 126
    Cal.App.3d at p. 298; 
    Ehret, supra
    , 73 Cal.App.4th at p. 1317.) Indeed, the court in
    Lippman observed, “unlike the motion to vacate [the judgment], the trial court does not
    lose jurisdiction to grant a motion for new trial when a notice of appeal is filed.”
    
    (Lippman, supra
    , 234 Cal.App.3d at p. 1634.)37 We are also constrained by the language
    of Code of Civil Procedure section 916, subdivision (a), which provides that an appeal
    stays trial court proceedings “upon the judgment or order appealed from or upon the
    matters embraced therein or affected thereby.” A motion to vacate or set aside a
    judgment seeks to have a court set aside a judgment and have a different judgment
    entered. (Code Civ. Proc., § 663.) On its face, such a motion is a proceeding upon the
    judgment, or upon “matters embraced” or “affected” by the judgment. 
    (Lippman, supra
    ,
    at p. 1634.)
    In light of this consistent authority, we conclude the trial court lacked jurisdiction
    to rule on defendants’ motion to vacate or set aside the judgment. The operative
    judgment is the original judgment dated November 15, 2011.
    3. Prevailing Parties in Phases I and II
    37
    Lippman explained that the reason for the distinction was that a motion for a
    new trial was a collateral matter, but a motion to vacate the judgment concerned “matters
    embraced” or “affected” by the judgment. 
    (Lippman, supra
    , 234 Cal.App.3d at p. 1634,
    fn. 3, citing Weisenburg v. Molina (1976) 
    58 Cal. App. 3d 478
    , 486.) The court went on:
    “While the logic of this rationale is questionable [citation], we are bound by its result.
    [Citation.]” (Ibid.)
    85
    In their cross-appeal, defendants argue that if we conclude—as we do—that the
    trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter the amended judgment, the original judgment’s
    prevailing party determinations should be reversed in significant part. In particular,
    defendants challenge the original judgment’s conclusions that the RDA was a prevailing
    party entitled to costs in Phases I and II. They point out that the damage awards were
    fully offset by settlement credits and that the judgment did not award any equitable or
    other relief to RDA. Because RDA failed to obtain relief, they argue, defendants are the
    prevailing parties as a matter of law.
    Code of Civil Procedure section 1032, subdivision (a)(4) defines a prevailing party
    to include “[1] the party with a net monetary recovery, [2] a defendant in whose favor a
    dismissal is entered, [3] a defendant where neither plaintiff nor defendant obtains any
    relief, and [4] a defendant as against those plaintiffs who did not recover any relief
    against that defendant. If any party recovers other than monetary relief and in situations
    other than as specified, the ‘prevailing party’ shall be as determined by the court, and
    under those circumstances, the court, in its discretion, may allow costs or
    not . . .” Thus, a party who fits into one of the four specified categories is entitled to
    recover costs as a matter of right. (Goodman v. Lozano (2010) 
    47 Cal. 4th 1327
    , 1333,
    1338, fn. 4 (Goodman); accord Charton v. Harkey (2016) 
    247 Cal. App. 4th 730
    , 738.)
    Otherwise, the trial court has discretion to determine the prevailing party. (Goodman,
    47 Cal.4th at p. 1338, fn. 4.) “Whether a party falls within one of the four categories
    authorizing the recovery of costs as a matter of right is a question of law we review de
    novo. [Citations.] We otherwise review a trial court’s cost award for abuse of discretion.
    [Citations.]” 
    (Charton, supra
    , 247 Cal.App.4th at p. 739.)
    As we have already explained, in 2007, after the Phase II trial, the trial court ruled
    that, when it rendered final judgment, it would enjoin (among others) MSL, Dow, Street,
    and PPG to comply with remediation orders and would enter an order declaring that
    defendants will be liable for any future remediation costs incurred by the RDA.
    However, in 2011, after Phase V, the court concluded injunctive relief was no longer
    necessary. Thus, the judgment did not order equitable or injunctive relief. After
    86
    applying offsets for settlement credits, the November 2011 judgment did not award
    economic damages to plaintiffs.
    The trial court found, in the operative judgment, that the City and the RDA were
    prevailing parties in Phases I and II, entitled to recover costs from MSL, Halford’s, Dow,
    Street, and PPG. As to Phase II, the court noted that the 2007 statement of decision
    awarded equitable relief to plaintiffs. In the statement of decision accompanying the
    2011 judgment, the trial court explained that, although defendants were liable for
    damages in Phases I and II, plaintiffs were not automatically prevailing parties because
    the damages were wholly offset by settlements.38 The court then concluded that even if
    all the damage awards were offset to zero, it had discretion pursuant to Goodman to
    determine the prevailing parties. The court went on: “Plaintiffs are prevailing parties as
    a matter of law as to defendants Dow and Street because of the punitive damage award
    against them. As to defendants Modesto Steam, [Halford’s], and PPG, plaintiffs did not
    attain equitable relief or retain a net monetary recovery. However, plaintiffs received
    settlements totaling $37.225 million from 16 defendants, favorable verdicts and decisions
    in Phases 1 and 2 that covered plaintiffs’ exposure for past and future treatment costs, and
    Phase 2 Polanco Act attorneys’ fees that are not subject to settlement credits. Thus, the
    Court finds plaintiffs are prevailing parties with respect to defendants Modesto Steam,
    [Halford’s], and PPG because they have substantially achieved their litigation
    objectives.”
    The question we face is whether, as defendants contend, they were prevailing
    parties as a matter of law in Phases I and II, or whether the trial court had discretion to
    determine plaintiffs—including the RDA—were prevailing parties. The procedural
    posture of this case is unusual. Plaintiffs achieved success in Phase II in 2007, after
    prolonged litigation, only to have the trial court decline to order equitable relief nearly
    five years later, based on changes in circumstances that had occurred during the
    38
    The court also explained that plaintiffs retained a net monetary recovery against
    Dow and Street because of the award of punitive damages. Because we have reversed the
    punitive damages award against Dow, we do not consider it as to Dow.
    87
    intervening years. The parties have drawn our attention to no case involving analogous
    facts, and our own research has disclosed none.
    Defendants contend this case falls within two of the mandatory categories on Code
    of Civil Procedure section 1032: they argue they are both “ ‘a defendant where neither
    plaintiff nor defendant obtains any relief,’ ” and “ ‘a defendant as against those plaintiffs
    who do not recover any relief against that defendant.’ ” Therefore, they argue, the trial
    court did not have discretion to treat the RDA as a prevailing party.
    We disagree and we are guided by Goodman. The plaintiffs there sued several
    defendants and settled with all but two of them, for a total of $230,000. 
    (Goodman, supra
    , 47 Cal.4th at p. 1331.) At trial, plaintiffs were awarded $146,000 against the
    remaining defendants. The trial court exercised its discretion to find the nonsettling
    defendants were the prevailing parties because they paid nothing under the judgment.
    (Ibid.) On review, our high court considered whether plaintiffs fell within the terms of
    Code of Civil Procedure section 1032, subdivision (a)(4)’s provision that the party with
    the “net monetary recovery” is the prevailing party entitled to costs as a matter of right.
    The court concluded that, “when a plaintiff’s prior settlement is more than the award
    received at trial, the plaintiff ultimately recovers nothing. [Citation.] In other words, the
    net recovery is zero.” (Id. at pp. 1334-1335, fn. omitted.) The court explained: “Our
    holding today is simply that a plaintiff whose damage award is offset to zero by a prior
    settlement does not categorically qualify as a prevailing party (‘the party with a net
    monetary recovery’) as a matter of law. Unless a party otherwise fits into one of the
    remaining three categories of prevailing party under section 1032(a)(4), a trial court will
    have the discretion to make the determination as to a prevailing party under the section.”
    (Id. at p. 1338, fn. 4.) The court then analyzed whether the trial court had abused its
    discretion in finding the defendants were prevailing parties, and concluded its finding
    was within the bounds of its discretion. (Id. at pp. 1338-1339.)
    Plaintiffs did not receive a net monetary recovery in Phase II, and—except as to
    punitive damages from Street—will not receive a net monetary recovery in Phase I either.
    They therefore do not fall within the mandatory provision of Code of Civil Procedure
    88
    section 1032, subdivision (a)(4) for parties who achieve a “net monetary recovery.”
    Defendants argue that because plaintiffs failed to obtain a net monetary recovery or
    equitable relief, defendants fall within two other mandatory categories of that section—“a
    defendant where neither plaintiff nor defendant obtains any relief,” and “a defendant as
    against those plaintiffs who do not recover any relief against that defendant.” This
    argument stands the rule of Goodman on its head. The effect of this position would be
    that where a plaintiff obtains a damage award, but the award is offset by settlement
    credits, the defendant—who was found liable for the plaintiff’s damages—would be the
    prevailing party as a matter of law. But that is not what Goodman teaches. Rather, the
    rule of Goodman is that in such a case, the trial court has discretion to determine the
    prevailing party.
    The trial court properly did so here. As the court noted in the November 2011
    judgment, plaintiffs had received favorable verdicts in Phases I and II that ensured their
    remediation costs would be covered, either through damages or through equitable relief.
    More litigation then ensued—relating to other sites—for almost five years after the
    conclusion of Phase II. During that time, due to continued remediation at the Phase II
    sites and other circumstances, by the time the Phase V proceedings went forward, the trial
    court had determined equitable relief was no longer necessary. But this fortuity does not
    entitle defendants to be treated as prevailing parties as a matter of law, and the trial court
    acted entirely within its discretion in concluding plaintiffs, including the RDA, achieved
    their litigation goals and prevailed in Phases I and II.39
    4. Cross-Defendants’ Appeal: Allocation of Costs to City as Cross-
    Defendant
    In their capacity as cross-defendants, the City and the Sewer District (collectively,
    City) have cross-appealed solely on the ground that the trial court erred when—in the
    39
    We recognize the trial court based its prevailing party determination against
    Dow and Street in Phase I on the award of punitive damages, which—as to Dow—we are
    reversing. However, the trial court’s rationale for the prevailing party determination
    against the other defendants in Phase I manifestly applies to Dow as well.
    89
    amended judgment—it found Dow, Street, and PPG prevailing parties entitled to recover
    costs from the City in their capacity both as plaintiffs and as cross-defendants in Phases
    III and IV. The City points out that, although it lost on the complaint in those phases, it
    was found not liable on the cross-complaints: the trial court granted non-suit on the
    cross-complaints in Phase III, and the cross-complaint was dismissed as moot in Phase IV
    after the trial court found defendants were not responsible parties under the Polanco
    Act.40
    The parties disagree on how the trial court should determine the prevailing parties
    in those circumstances: Defendants contend they are prevailing parties in those phases
    without limitation, and the City (in its capacity as cross-defendant) contends that while it
    is not the prevailing party on the complaint, it is the prevailing party on the cross-
    complaints.41
    a. Preliminary Matters
    Preliminarily, we address three matters. First, we have already concluded the trial
    court lacked jurisdiction to enter the amended judgment. The operative judgment, dated
    November 15, 2011, did not assess costs against the City in its capacity as cross-
    defendant. Further, we have vacated the directed verdict in Phase III and the ruling in
    40
    In the cross-complaints, defendants sought contribution and indemnity from the
    City based on the City’s allegedly improper operation and maintenance of its sewer
    system. The City’s insurers undertook the defense of the cross-complaints, and the City
    was represented by separate counsel with respect to the cross-complaints. As explained
    by a brief filed on behalf of the City as cross-defendant, “Cross-Defendant City has
    tendered its defense and indemnification for the cross-complaints against various liability
    insurers, some of whom are defending and some of whom are at interest/at risk for a
    judgment against Cross-Defendant City on the cross-complaints. Those interests and
    risks are not represented by counsel for the plaintiffs, but rather by separate counsel for
    Cross-Defendant City.” In the cross-appeal, the City acknowledges its inconsistent
    interests in its two capacities: in its capacity as plaintiff, its interest was in recovering
    damages from defendants, but in its capacity as cross-defendant, its interest was in
    minimizing the damages that could be apportioned to it.
    41
    Curiously, the City does not seek its own costs incurred in defense of the cross-
    complaints, but merely asks us to amend the cost orders to provide that “Cross-Defendant
    City of Modesto” not pay any of defendants’ costs.
    90
    Phase IV, and so the related cost awards must also be vacated. However, we shall
    address the issue the City raises to guide the trial court on remand.
    Second, defendants contend the City was entitled to file only one notice of appeal
    (rather than two—one in its capacity as plaintiff, and one in its capacity as cross-
    defendant) and only one appellant’s opening brief (rather than one in each capacity).
    (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.200(a)(1).) On this basis, they ask us to dismiss the City’s
    second notice of appeal and disregard the opening brief filed on behalf of the City as
    cross-defendant. We decline this invitation. Whether or not the City was authorized to
    file a second notice of appeal, there is no doubt it is now before us on appeal from the
    judgment. And even assuming the appellant’s brief filed on the City’s behalf in its
    capacity as cross-defendant was improper, we decline to strike it. (See Keep Our
    Mountains Quiet v. County of Santa Clara (2015) 
    236 Cal. App. 4th 714
    , 728 [declining to
    strike improperly filed brief].)
    Third, defendants contend the City’s challenge to the allocation of costs in its
    capacity as cross-defendant is non-justiciable in this appeal, because it is, in essence, a
    dispute between the City and its insurers, who are not parties to this action, rather than
    between the City and defendants. In the interest of judicial economy, and because the
    trial court will have to address the allocation of costs on remand, we will address this
    issue now.
    b. The Merits
    As we have discussed, Code of Civil Procedure section 1032 sets forth four
    categories of prevailing parties who are entitled to recover costs as a matter of right.
    Among them is “a defendant where neither plaintiff nor defendant obtains any relief.”
    (Code Civ. Proc., § 1032, subd. (a)(4).) Also of note, “unless the context clearly requires
    otherwise,” the term “ ‘defendant’ includes a cross-defendant.” (Id. subd. (a)(2).) The
    question before us is whether this definition applies where, as here, a party obtains no
    relief on a complaint as plaintiff, but the defendant obtains no relief against the same
    party on a cross-complaint.
    91
    This question arose in McLarand, Vasquez & Partners, Inc. v. Downey Savings &
    Loan Assn. (1991) 
    231 Cal. App. 3d 1450
    (McLarand). The plaintiff there, an
    architectural design firm, brought a breach of contract action against the defendant. The
    defendant, in turn, filed a cross-complaint against the plaintiff seeking damages. Neither
    party was awarded relief at trial, and each party sought costs. (Id. at pp. 1452-1453.)
    The plaintiff took the position that “when a defendant files a cross-complaint against a
    plaintiff, and neither party prevails on its action, both parties are ‘prevailing parties’
    under section 1032 and both are entitled to an award of costs.” (Id. at p. 1453.) The
    court disagreed. It reasoned, “The phrase ‘a defendant where neither the plaintiff nor the
    defendant obtains any relief’ cannot be interpreted as [plaintiff] urges. A defendant
    cannot obtain relief unless it files a cross-complaint against the plaintiff because
    affirmative relief cannot be claimed in the answer. [Citation.] The statute, therefore,
    already contemplates that when neither the plaintiff nor the defendant who has filed a
    cross-complaint prevails, the defendant is the prevailing party entitled to costs.” (Id. at p.
    1454.) The court also noted that its decision was consistent with two earlier cases,
    Schrader v. Neville (1949) 
    34 Cal. 2d 112
    (Schrader) and Gerstein v. Smirl (1945) 
    70 Cal. App. 2d 238
    (Gerstein), and held “[t]he phrase ‘a defendant where neither plaintiff
    nor defendant obtains any relief’ compels the conclusion that a defendant in this context
    does not include the plaintiff as a cross-defendant.” (McLarand, 231 Cal.App.3d at
    p. 1455, fn. omitted.) (Accord, Cussler v. Crusader Entertainment, LLC (2012)
    
    212 Cal. App. 4th 356
    , 370-371; Building Maintenance Service Co. v. AIL Systems, Inc.
    (1997) 
    55 Cal. App. 4th 1014
    , 1025-1027.) McLarand is on point, and it is controlling.
    The City attempts to distinguish McLarand on the ground that the defendant there
    was compelled to file a cross-complaint or lose its right to assert its claim against the
    plaintiff, but that in our case, defendants would have been free to assert their claim for
    contribution and indemnity in a separate action. We are not persuaded. Schrader and
    Gerstein, upon which the McLarand court relied, both considered personal injury actions
    in which both the plaintiffs and the defendants were injured, and neither plaintiffs nor
    defendants obtained any relief against the other. 
    (Schrader, supra
    , 34 Cal.2d at p. 113;
    92
    
    Gerstein, supra
    , 70 Cal.App.2d at p. 239.) In deciding the defendants were the prevailing
    parties, the two courts reasoned in part that, had the plaintiffs not commenced the
    litigation by filing their complaint, the defendants might never have filed suit; but that
    once the action was filed, the defendants were compelled to assert their claims in the
    same action. 
    (Schrader, supra
    , 34 Cal.2d at p. 115; 
    Gerstein, supra
    , 70 Cal.App.2d at
    p. 240.) Rather than militating against the application of the same rule here, that
    reasoning is perhaps even more compelling on the facts of this case: If the City had not
    brought its action against defendants seeking damages and equitable relief for the harm
    caused by defendants’ products, defendants would have had no cause to bring their
    claims against the City, seeking contribution and indemnity based on their potential
    liability to the City for that very injury. In any event, the compulsory nature of the cross-
    complaint was not the basis of the court’s reasoning in McLarand; rather, the court
    concluded that the statutory language compelled the conclusion that the defendant was
    entitled to costs where neither the plaintiff nor the cross-complaining defendant
    prevailed. 
    (McLarand, supra
    , 231 Cal.App.3d at p. 1450.)
    Contrary to the City’s contention, the case of Hearn Pacific Corp. v. Second
    Generation Roofing, Inc. (2016) 
    247 Cal. App. 4th 117
    (Hearn Pacific) does not dictate a
    different result. There, the cross-complainant, Hearn, assigned to its insurer all of
    Hearn’s “rights and interests” under its contract with the cross-defendant. (Id. at p. 125.)
    The insurance company then pursued the contract action against the cross-defendant and
    expressly alleged in an amended cross-complaint that it was doing so “ ‘in the
    name of . . . HEARN’ ” but on its own behalf. (Id. at p. 126.) The cross-defendant
    prevailed and, pursuant to the provisions of the contract, secured an award for prevailing
    party costs and fees. It then moved the court to add the insurance company as a judgment
    debtor. (Id. at pp. 126-127.) The trial court denied the motion (id. at p. 128), and the
    appellate court reversed. It concluded that, although Code of Civil Procedure
    section 368.5 allows a transferee party to continue the litigation in the name of the
    transferor, the transferee is nonetheless the real party in interest, and the device of
    93
    continuing the litigation in the name of the transferor does not operate as a shield to
    protect the real party from liability for adverse outcomes. (Id. at p. 134.)
    Hearn Pacific has nothing to do with Code of Civil Procedure section 1032 or the
    determination of who is a prevailing party under the circumstances of this case. The City
    nevertheless argued that Hearn Pacific was applicable here for two reasons. First, the
    City asserted, Hearn Pacific teaches that “in determining the obligation for costs” the
    court should consider “the interest of an insurer that has been transferred rights from its
    insured who is a party to the litigation.” So, here, City argued, the cross-defendants were
    defended by the insurer, and, under the principles of equitable subrogation they have “an
    interest to protect” with respect to costs. Second, the City argued, Hearn Pacific states
    the principle that, in awarding costs, the court should consider “fairness” and “equitable
    considerations” and, although in Hearn Pacific those equitable factors weighed against
    the insurer, here they do not. The City’s reliance on Hearn Pacific for these principles is
    too much of a stretch. The court there concluded that the insurance company cannot
    accept the benefits of the assignment without also being subject to its burdens (Hearn
    
    Pacific, supra
    , 247 Cal.App.4th at p. 134); the court did not rely on equitable
    considerations or fairness in determining that, as a legal matter, the insurance company
    should be added as a judgment debtor, it being the real party in interest. Nothing in
    Hearn Pacific suggests that an insurer’s interest in its costs of suit should be considered
    separately in determining who is the prevailing party, even when the insurer is the real
    party in interest, much less here, where the City is the real party.
    V. DISPOSITION
    The order denying reconsideration of the summary adjudication of the nuisance
    claims is vacated and the matter is remanded with directions to deny the motions for
    summary adjudication on the nuisance claims and to conduct further proceedings.
    The punitive damages award against Dow in the Phase I proceeding is reversed.
    The order granting the Motion for Directed Verdict Re Property Damage in the
    Phase III proceeding is vacated, except as to any of those sites for which nonsuit was
    granted on other grounds, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings
    94
    The decision and order denying relief in the Phase IV proceeding is reversed and
    the matter is remanded for further proceedings.
    The amended judgment is vacated as void.
    The prevailing party determinations with respect to Phases III and IV are vacated
    as a result of our decision to vacate the Phase III directed verdict and the Phase IV
    decision and order.
    The order allocating settlement credits is vacated.
    In all other respects we affirm the judgment entered on November 15, 2011.
    All parties shall bear their own costs on appeal except for those costs comprised of
    attorney’s fees to which a party may be entitled pursuant to statute, which shall be
    determined in the first instance in the trial court.
    _________________________
    Rivera, J.
    We concur:
    _________________________
    Ruvolo, P.J.
    _________________________
    Streeter, J.
    95
    City of Modesto et al. v. The Dow Chemical Company et al. (A134419)
    City of Modesto et al. v. The Dow Chemical Company et al. (A134419)
    Trial Court:                         San Francisco County Superior Court
    Trial Judge:                         Honorable Ernest H. Goldsmith
    Counsel for Plaintiffs and           Miller, Axline & Sawyer, Duane C. Miller and
    Appellants, City of Modesto et       Michael D. Axline; Bien & Summers, Elliot L. Bien
    al.:                                 and Jocelyn S. Sperling; Susan Alcala Wood and
    Adam U. Lindgren, City Attorneys of Modesto;
    Roland R. Stevens, Special Counsel.
    Counsel for Plaintiff and            Brown & Winters, William Douglas Brown.
    Appellant, City of Modesto
    Redevelopment Agency:
    Counsel for Plaintiff and            Davidovitz & Bennett and Cooper & Scully, Moris
    Appellant, City of Modesto           Davidovitz; Davidovitz & Bennett, Charles H.
    Sewer District No. 1:                Bolcom and Coreal Riday-White.
    Counsel for Defendant and            King & Spalding, Gennaro A. Filice III and Paul R.
    Respondent, The Dow                  Johnson.
    Chemical Company:
    Counsel for Defendant and            Beveridge & Diamond, Gary J. Smith and Mark A.
    Respondent, Axiall                   Turco; Beveridge & Diamond and Katten Muchin
    Corporation, successor in            Rosenman, Lily N. Chinn.
    interest to PPG Industries, Inc.:
    Counsel for Defendant and            Hicks Thomas, Eric A. Grant and John B. Thomas.
    Respondent, R.R. Street & Co.:
    Counsel for Defendant and            Schuering Zimmerman & Doyle, Keith D. Chidlaw
    Respondent, Halford’s                and Andrew S. Larsen.
    Cleaners:
    Counsel for Defendant and            Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum, William Noel Edlin and
    Respondent, Modesto Steam            Antonio P. Garcia, Jr.
    Laundry & Cleaners:
    96