ELR Citation: ELR 20472
No(s). 94-CV-0662 (E.D. Pa. Sep 28, 1994)

The court holds that §113(f)(2) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act does not bar a nonsettling party's third-party claim for contribution against a party that entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resolving its liability to the federal government for certain response costs regarding contamination of a site used for DDT production during World War II. The court holds that §113(f)(2)'s contribution protection does not apply, because the subject matter covered in the consent decree is not the same subject matter at issue in the government's present cost recovery suit against the nonsettling party. The government's claim for a declaratory judgment that the nonsettling party is liable for all response costs not otherwise provided for in the consent decree precludes the court from finding that the government only seeks relief within the ambit of the consent decree.

[A related decision is published at 24 ELR 21449.]

Counsel for Petitioner
Brud Rossmann, Jonathan A. Marks
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Counsel for Respondent
Michael R. Lazerwitz, Charles F. Lettow
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
1752 N St. NW, Washington DC 20036
(202) 728-2700