ELR Citation: ELR 20088
No(s). 08-3083 (6th Cir. Apr 20, 2009)

The Sixth Circuit affirmed a bankruptcy court decision finding an electronics manufacturer liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for $357,246 of already-incurred costs and $8,735,434 in estimated future costs for the cleanup of groundwater and soil contamination near a now-vacant manufacturing plant in Socorro, New Mexico. The bankruptcy trustee for the manufacturer appealed, arguing that the bankruptcy court erred in concluding that the manufacturer assumed its predecessor's environmental liabilities. But the plain and unambiguous language of a 1998 agreement between the manufacturer and its predecessor supports the bankruptcy court's determination that the manufacturer assumed CERCLA liability that its predecessor incurred as an owner or operator of the site at the time of the disposal of hazardous substances. In addition, no genuine issues of material fact precluded the bankruptcy court from concluding that the manufacturer was responsible for contamination detected at a well located one and a half miles south of the plant. Nor did the bankruptcy court abuse its discretion by excluding evidence at a hearing on estimated future cleanup costs.