ELR Citation: 42 ELR 20080
No(s). 04-256 (E.D. Wash. Apr 4, 2012) (Suko, J.)

A district court held that a Canadian mining company, if found liable under CERCLA, will be subject to joint and several liability for response costs incurred by the state of Washington and a Native American tribe along a portion of the Upper Columbia River. In this case, the harm is the entirety of the contamination at the site, and what the plaintiffs in this case seek are recovery of costs to investigate and clean up the entirety of that contamination. None of the corporation's apportionment theories address the entirety of the contamination. Instead, it only addressed releases from its slag. Because the corporation has failed to account for all of the harm at the site, it cannot prove that the harm is divisible. Even assuming that it had accounted for the entire harm at the site, it failed to prove that the harm at the site is capable of being divided so as to allow for apportionment of liability. Accordingly, if the corporation is found liable following trial, it will be jointly and severally liable for response costs incurred by the tribes and state that are consistent with the national contingency plan.