Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Maryland has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers conducted an adequate search for records concerning the environmental consequences of leaving metal in place on a property owned by Purnell and Mary Ann Shortall and that because the Shortalls' complaint had alleged only that the Corps had not responded to their request at the time it was filed their suit became moot once the agency responded. The Shortalls were told by the Maryland Department of the Environment that they were responsible for removing metals from their property. Believing that a 1991 recommendation by the Corps of Engineers to leave the metal in place supported their position, the Shortalls made a FOIA request to the Baltimore District Office of the Army Corps of Engineers. The staffer handling their request left the Corps shortly after beginning to process the request and it was not until Mrs. Shortall contacted the office to ask about the status of the request that the Corps realized the request had not been processed further. The Corps conducted a search and found no records. Mrs. Shortall challenged the response and the Shortalls filed suit. The Corps then broadened its search and found some archived records which it sent to the Shortalls. The Corps argued that the case was moot once it responded. The court agreed, noting that "that the Corps did not produce letters the Shortalls believe were received by them relates not to whether a search was conducted (the Shortalls concede it was) but to the adequacy of such search. The complaint does not allege an inadequate search by the Corps and [the Shortalls'] argument to that extent in their opposition cannot constitute an amendment of the pleadings." The court pointed out that "the 'controversy' in the Shortalls' complaint that 'Defendants failed to produce documents' fell away when the Corps produced documents." The court rejected the Shortalls' claim for attorney's fees as well. The court observed that "there is no suggestion that the Corps' conduct was spurred on by the lawsuit or that the Corps took an intractable position that it was forced to change due to litigation."
Issues: Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Jurisdiction - Moot

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2014-12-16	1	COMPLAINT against Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 14637078254) filed by Purnell A. Shortall, Mary Ann Shortall. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Summons, # 9 mailing envelope)(dass, Deputy Clerk) Modified on 12/17/2014 (dass, Deputy Clerk). (Entered: 12/16/2014)
2014-12-16	2	Consent to Magistrate Judge filed by Plaintiffs. (dass, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 12/16/2014)
2014-12-29	3	ORDER Directing Clerk to issue and mail Summons and Complaint service copies to Plaintiffs. Signed by Judge William M Nickerson on 12/29/2014. (c/m 12/29/2014 nd2s, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 12/29/2014)
2014-12-29	4	Summons Issued 60 days as to Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (c/m w/ Complaint 12/29/2014 nd2s, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 12/29/2014)
2015-02-09	5	MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 1 Complaint, by Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Responses due by 2/26/2015 (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Phelps, Matthew) (Entered: 02/09/2015)
2015-02-09	6	ORDER granting 5 Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply. Signed by Judge William M Nickerson on 2/9/2015. Defendant shall respond to Plaintiffs' Complaint on or before April 6, 2015. (rals, Chambers) (Entered: 02/09/2015)
2015-02-10	7	ORDER granting 5 MOTION of defendant for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 1 Complaint. Signed by Judge William M Nickerson on 2/10/2015. (c/m 2/10/15 jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 02/10/2015)
2015-02-20	8	SUMMONS Returned Executed by Purnell A. Shortall, Mary Ann Shortall. Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Attorney served on 1/9/2015, Attorney General served on 1/12/15; answer due 3/10/2015. (jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 02/20/2015)
2015-02-20		Set/Reset Deadlines: Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers answer due 4/6/2015. (jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 02/20/2015)
2015-04-06	9	MOTION to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and for Summary Judgment by Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Responses due by 4/23/2015 (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Law, # 2 Exhibit 1, # 3 Exhibit 2, # 4 Exhibit 3, # 5 Exhibit 4, # 6 Exhibit 5, # 7 Exhibit 6, # 8 Exhibit 7, # 9 Exhibit 8, # 10 Exhibit 9, # 11 Exhibit 10, # 12 Exhibit 11, # 13 Exhibit 12, # 14 Exhibit 13, # 15 Exhibit 14, # 16 Text of Proposed Order)(Phelps, Matthew) (Entered: 04/06/2015)
2015-04-07	10	Rule 12/56 letter mailed to Purnell and Mary Ann Shortall. (c/m 4/7/15 jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 04/07/2015)
2015-04-23	11	RESPONSE in Opposition re 9 MOTION to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and for Summary Judgment filed by Mary Ann Shortall, Purnell A. Shortall. (jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 04/23/2015)
2015-05-06	12	MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 11 Response in Opposition to Motion, 9 MOTION to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and for Summary Judgment by Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Responses due by 5/26/2015 (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Phelps, Matthew) (Entered: 05/06/2015)
2015-05-12	13	ORDER granting 12 Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply. Signed by Judge William M Nickerson on 5/12/2015. (c/m 5/12/15 jnls, Deputy Clerk) Modified on 5/12/2015 (jnls, Deputy Clerk). (Entered: 05/12/2015)
2015-05-14	14	RESPONSE in Opposition re 12 MOTION of defendant for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply by Mary Ann Shortall, Purnell A. Shortall. (jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 05/14/2015)
2015-05-20	15	REPLY to Response to Motion re 9 MOTION to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and for Summary Judgment filed by Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Phelps, Matthew) (Entered: 05/20/2015)
2015-06-04	16	MEMORANDUM. Signed by Judge William M Nickerson on 6/4/2015. (c/m 6/5/15 jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 06/05/2015)
2015-06-04	17	ORDER granting 9 Motion of defendant to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim; dismissing case without prejudice. Signed by Judge William M Nickerson on 6/4/2015. (c/m 6/5/15 jnls, Deputy Clerk) (Entered: 06/05/2015)
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