Michelle Thompson and other residents of East Point sued William C. Meredith Company, Inc. the corporation, alleging that operations at the corporation’s nearby facility were tortiously emitting chemicals and noxious odors upon their properties and that they were entitled to injunctive relief and damages. Among the other defendants,1 the residents named three individuals affiliated with the corporation: i Cleveland G. Meredith, the sole shareholder of the corporation and the chairman of its board; ii Scott Schneider, the corporation’s president; and iii Paul M. Castle, the corporation’s vice president and general manager. This appeal concerns the denial of a motion for summary judgment filed by these individual defendants, who maintain that they cannot be held personally liable for damages in connection with their roles in the corporation. For reasons that follow, we vacate the denial and remand for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We use a de novo standard of review on appeal from a grant or denial of summary judgment, and view the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.2 The corporation is in the business of manufacturing and treating wooden utility poles. The corporation obtains unfinished poles from various third parties; at its East Point facility, the corporation then treats the poles with a solution containing the preservative/pesticide, pentachlorophenol “penta”. The treatment process involves placing the timber into a retort a huge vessel, which contains the solution. Once treated, the poles are either sent to customers or stored upon the facility’s yard. According to the residents, the corporation’s operations emit penta and other chemicals into the air. Penta is regulated by the Environment Protection Agency EPA. Consequently, it may be sold only to licensed applicators; the corporation is operating under such a license, and the EPA has approved the use of penta for treating wooden poles. While the corporation’s facility is located in the vicinity of residential neighborhoods, it is situated upon property that is zoned light industrial, where it has operated since 1921. The corporation employs approximately 18 individuals to run the treatment and manufacturing process. And according to the individual defendants, at all relevant times, the corporation was duly permitted by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division EPD to operate its wood preservative facility.
Alleging nonetheless that the East Point facility was tortiously emitting chemicals and noxious odors upon their properties, the residents set forth in their complaint numerous theories against the three named individuals affiliated with the corporation. During discovery, these individual defendants described their corporate roles as follows. Meredith deposed that his involvement with the corporation focused on sales and marketing. Schneider stated that his responsibilities included handling customers, scheduling logistics, and buying and selling certain wood. Castle stated that he was responsible for supervising the manager of quality control and treating, as well as the manager of shipping and receiving.
