By: Jay Tufano In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Thomas, Territory of Guam v. United States, No. 20-382, 2021 WL 2044537 (U.S. May 24, 2021), the United States Supreme Court clarified that to trigger CERCLA’s contribution protections under 42 U.S.C. § 9613 (f), a party must settle a CERCLA-specific claim with United States (i.e.,…
California’s Central District Awards the United States $49.8 Million at McColl Superfund Site
By: Jay Tufano In the latest of a three-decade old saga involving the McColl Superfund Site in Fullerton, California, the Central District of California granted summary judgment in favor of the United States to recover some $49.8 million from Shell Oil Company and several other oil companies (collectively “Oil Companies”) in a CERCLA cost recovery action….
Ninth Circuit Weighs in on CERCLA’s Statute of Limitations Defense in Contribution Actions
By: Jay Tufano The Ninth Circuit, in Arconic, Inc. v. APC Inv. Co., No. 19-55181, 2020 WL 4579511 (9th Cir. Aug. 10, 2020), recently weighed in on the statute of limitations defense in contribution actions arising under CERCLA section 113(g) (42 U.S.C. 9613 (g).) The panel held that a party’s settlement with EPA for one…
Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case Holds that the Clean Water Act Can Encompass Groundwater
The United States Supreme Court in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 590 U.S. ___ (2020) issued a landmark decision involving the Clean Water Act (CWA), holding that a permit is required when there is a direct discharge of a pollutant from a point source or when there is a “functional equivalent” into navigable…
Ninth Circuit Rejects CERCLA’s “Third-Party Defense” In Connection with Tax Auction Sale
Ruling on a matter of “first impression,” the Ninth Circuit in California Department of Toxic Substances Control v Westside Delivery LLC, 2018 WL 1973715 (9th Cir. Apr. 27, 2018) held that real-estate purchasers who buy contaminated land through tax-sale default auctions are in “contractual privity” with prior owners and thus, may be subject to CERCLA…
The Ninth Circuit in United States v Spatig, 870 F.3d 1079 (9th Cir. 2017) recently held that defendants may not escape conviction under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s (RCRA) criminal enforcement provisions by invoking the “lack of mental” capacity defense. Because RCRA’s criminal provisions require only a showing that the defendant “knowingly” committed the…
