The Third Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed a lower court decision dismissing as time barred a state environmental agency's CERCLA lawsuit seeking reimbursement of response costs incurred at a former landfill. The defendants argued that the agency's action at the site was a "removal" acti...

A district court held that the owner of a vacant property is liable under CERCLA for the release of hazardous waste intentionally caused by trespassers. The owner, who left oil drums on the property, claimed she was entitled to the innocent landowner defense. But she failed to show by a preponderanc...

A district court dismissed, with leave to amend, a dry cleaning business owner's CERCLA claims against a water company for soil and groundwater contamination. The owner alleged that the water company's operation of a nearby well led to the release of perchloroethylene (PCE). But the complaint does n...

A district court held that the Virgin Islands may go forward with its suit to recover response costs it incurred responding to the release of hazardous substances at a former alumina facility. Under CERCLA, at least some costs must be incurred prior to the start of litigation in order for a plaintif...

The Second Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court decision dismissing as time barred New York's CERCLA claims against several defendants for costs a town incurred investigating and addressing groundwater contamination stemming from the New Cassel Industrial Area. The lower court held that the st...

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that insurers had no duty to defend or indemnify an oil refinery in an underlying CERCLA lawsuit filed against it by EPA. EPA sent the refinery a letter in 2001 notifying it that it was a PRP. Because EPA's allegations in the letter arguably fell wi...

The Ninth Circuit held that an insurance company breached its duty to defend a trucking equipment company when it refused to provide a defense after the company received letters from EPA notifying it of its potential liability under CERCLA for environmental contamination at the Portland Harbor Super...

The Third Circuit held that a PRP that entered into a consent decree resolving its state-law liability with the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in connection with contamination at an industrial facility may seek contribution under CERCLA from a second PRP. The court held that CERCLA §113(f)(3)(B) does...

The Third Circuit, in a case involving a contaminated site in New Jersey, affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision finding the former owner of the site liable to the current owner under CERCLA but not RCRA. The lower court ruled that the current owner's claim for injunctive relie...

A district court held that a cartage company that leased a parcel of land in the 1960s may be held liable for response costs the property owner incurred at the site under CERCLA as an operator, transporter, or arranger, but not as an owner. In its motion for partial summary judgment as to the compan...