Mealey's ( May 10, 2023, 1:56 PM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — Finding that the motion was procedurally deficient and that two chemical companies failed to meet their burdens on the merits for direct estoppel, a California judge denied the companies’ motion for summary adjudication on a punitive damages claim brought by the city of Modesto and some of its municipal agencies over perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination at former dry-cleaning sites around the city....