Philadelphia Suburban Corp.

The subject matter of this case is an oil fire (resulting from the collision in navigable waters near Philadelphia of two non-government vessels, one of which was discharging oil at the time) in fighting which the Coast Guard participated along with local firefighters; in the course of fighting the fire a substantial amount of plaintiffs firefighting foam was used, and after the fire a quantity of the unused foam found its way into Coast Guard hands and was disposed of by that agency. Plaintiff sues for the value of the foam used at the fire or thereafter retained by the Coast Guard. Although…