Northern States Power Co. v. City of Ashland
A district court held that a power company may seek contribution for some of the cleanup costs it incurred at a site adjacent to Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin. The company's CERCLA §113 contribution claims stemming from a 2003 consent decree, and all its §107 cost recovery claims, are time-b...
Ameripride Services, Inc. v. Texas Eastern Overseas, Inc.
The Ninth Circuit held that in allocating liability to a nonsettling defendant in a CERCLA contribution action, a district court has discretion to determine the most equitable method of accounting for settlements between private parties. Agreeing with the First Circuit and declining to follow the re...
Consolidated Coal Co. v. Georgia Power Co.
The Fourth Circuit held that a public utility that sold used PCB-containing electrical transformers in the 1980s to a company for reconditioning and resale should not be held liable under CERCLA as an arranger. EPA added the site to the NPL in the mid-2000s, and the current owners of the site bore m...
Beardslee v. Inflection Energy, LLC
New York's highest court refused to extend hydraulic fracturing leases entered into between energy companies and landowners. The leases contained a "force majeure" clause, excusing the parties from nonperformance due to events outside their control, as well as "habendum clauses," establishing the pr...
Town of Westport v. Monsanto Co.
A district court dismissed a town's Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act claim against the corporate spinoffs of Old Monsanto, the sole manufacturer of PCBs in the United States between 1935 and 1979. After discovering PCBs in some of the area schools, the tow...