An operator of industrial plant who acquires rather than builds the plant must take steps to identify all structural elements when features are encountered that depart from conventional design, and cannot rely on untested assumptions. A trial judge's express statement that an adverse inference was non-dispositive will be taken at face value in a reserved written judgment absent powerful considerations to the contrary. A court may reduce a successful plaintiff's costs where exaggerated claims wasted time, but must ensure the mathematical effect of the reduction is proportionate to the intended deduction.
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