B.F. Goodrich v. Betkoski, s. 1268-1271

Citation99 F.3d 505
Decision Date01 November 1996
Docket NumberNos. 1268-1271,D,s. 1268-1271
Parties, 65 USLW 2367, 36 Fed.R.Serv.3d 500, 27 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,329, 45 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1303 B.F. GOODRICH; Upjohn Company; Dow Corning Corporation; Environmental Waste Resources, Inc.; Reynolds Aluminum Building Products Company; Uniroyal Chemical Co., Inc.; White Consolidated Industries; Kerite Company; Unisys Corporation; Risdon Corp.; Hoechst Celanese Corporation; Cadbury Beverages, Inc.; Coltec Industries, Inc.; Ken-Chas Reserve Co.; United States of America; State of Connecticut; Naugatuck Glass Co.; Naugatuck Treatment Co., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. John BETKOSKI; George Clark; Armstrong Rubber Company; Thomas Ashmore; Borough of Naugatuck; Bristol Flowed Gasket Company; Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority; Dee's, Inc., also known as Dee's Refuse, Inc.; Derby Tire Company; Eastern Company; General Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Inc.; Gerald Metals, Inc.; C.R. Gibson Company; Hospital Marketing Services Co., Inc.; Ideal Manufacturing Co.; Jacob Brothers, Inc.; Litton Systems, Inc., also known as Winchester Electronics; Manafort Brothers, Inc.; Nasco, Inc.; New Haven Housing Authority; Northeast Utilities; Frank Perrotti & Sons, Inc.; Quality Rubber Co.; Sanitary Refuse Co., Inc.; Seymour Brass Turning Co.; Sperry Rand Corporation; Stauffer Chemical Company; Town of Middlebury; Town of Thomaston; Town of Woodbury; Triangle Industries, Inc.; Turner Construction Company; U.S. Prolam, Inc.; Waterbury Companies, Inc.; Watertown Housing Authority; Zollo Drum Company, Inc.; Atlantic Richfield Co.; Adam's Service Station; Armand's Auto Service; High Ridge Apartments; Ashmore Trucking; Beacon Outing Club; Brass Rail Restaurant; Coffee Shop; Crelan Constr. Co.; Ct. Sheet Metal/Wood Co.; Daddio's; David Rupsis; Edward Betkoski; Elk's Lodge # 967; George's Floor Covering; Horizon Homes; Korvette Services; Latella Carting Co.; Lombard Bros., Inc.; Long Meadow Cafe; McDonald's Restaurant; Meyers & Schwartz; Neal's Coffee Shoppe; Nelson Mendes; Portanova Trucking Co.; Portug
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

Peter A. Appel, Washington, DC (David C. Shilton, Peter M. Flynn, Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General, Christopher F. Droney, United States Attorney, John B. Hughes, Assistant United States Attorney, New Haven, CT; Daniel H. Winograd, Margery Adams, EPA Region I, Boston, MA, of counsel), for Plaintiff-Appellant United States.

Kenneth N. Tedford, Assistant Attorney General, Hartford, CT (Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General, Robert D. Snook, Assistant Attorney General, State of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, of counsel), for Plaintiff-Appellant State of Connecticut.

John O'Leary, Portland, ME (Catherine R. Connors, David P. Littell, Pierce, Atwood, Scribner, Allen, Smith & Lancaster, Portland, ME, of counsel), for Plaintiff-Appellant Members of the Laurel Park Coalition.

Eric Lukingbeal, Hartford, CT (Brian C.S. Freeman, Bradford S. Babbitt, Robinson & Cole, Hartford, CT, of counsel, and on the brief), for Defendant-Appellee Gerald Metals, Inc.

Frank M. Thomas, Philadelphia, PA (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, L.L.P., Philadelphia, PA; Michael J. Donnelly, Murtha, Cullina, Richter and Pinney, Hartford, CT; William B. Heinrich, Roger E. Koontz, Silverstone & Koontz, Hartford, CT; Robert L. Trowbridge, Trowbridge, Ide, Mansfield & Schoolcraft, P.C., Hartford, CT, all of counsel, and on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees Armstrong Rubber Co., The Eastern Co., and The Kerite Co.

Nicholas J. Harding, Middletown, CT (Adams, Harding & Conway, Middletown, CT, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellees Manafort Brothers/Connecticut Waste Processing, Inc.; E. Eric Arsan Refuse; NRS Carting Company, Inc.; and Zollo Drum Company, Inc.

Mark Mininberg, New Haven, CT (Katharine S. Goodbody, Mininberg & Goodbody, New Haven, CT, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellees Adam's Service Station, Bank of Boston Connecticut, Bristol Flowed Gasket Co., Inc., The Coffee Shop, Connecticut Sheet Metal, Co., Inc., Crelan Construction Co., Derby Tire Co., Inc., Connecticut Pharmacare, Inc. d/b/a Ford Pharmacy & Medical Supply, First National Supermarkets, Inc., High Ridge Apartments, Hospital Marketing Services, Inc., Horizon Homes, Lombard Bros., Inc./North Penn Transfer, Inc., McDonald's Corp., Nasco, Inc., Naugatuck YMCA, Northeast Utilities, Portanova, Inc., Portuguese Club, Ray's Hardware, Inc., Stauffer Chemical, Steve's Tire and Battery Salvage, The Stop & Shop Companies, Inc., Trowbridge House Apartments, Turner Construction Co., Valley Motor Trailer Sales, Valley Mobile Homes Park, WPM, Inc.

William A. Butler, Washington, DC (Steptoe & Johnson, L.L.P., Washington, DC, of counsel), for Defendant-Appellees Municipal Collectors.

John Robacynski, Woodbridge, CT, for Defendants-Appellees Frank Perrotti & Sons, Inc. and Dee's Refuse, Inc.

Edwin L. Doernberger, New Haven, CT (Catherine K. Lin, Sachs, Sklarz, Shure & Gallant, P.C., New Haven, CT, of counsel), for Defendant-Appellee U.S. Prolam, Inc.

Louis R. Pepe, David E. Rosengren, Pepe & Hazard, Hartford, CT, of counsel, filed a joint brief, for Plaintiffs-Appellants B.F. Goodrich; Upjohn Co.; Dow Corning Corp.; Reynolds Aluminum Building Products Co.; Uniroyal Chemical Co., Inc. and Hoechst Celanese Corp.

Barbara S. Miller, Brody and Ober, P.C., Southport, CT; Louis A. Highmark, Jr., Fink & Highmark, West Hartford, CT, of counsel, filed a brief, for Defendant-Appellee Waterbury Companies, Inc.

William H. Narwold, Eric E. Grondahl, Cummings & Lockwood, Hartford, CT, of counsel, filed a brief, for Defendant-Appellee C.R. Gibson Co.

Roger E. Koontz, William B. Heinrich, Silverstone & Koontz, Hartford, CT; Eric Lukingbeal, Brian C.S. Freeman, Robinson & Cole, Hartford, CT, of counsel, filed a joint brief, for Defendants-Appellees The Eastern Company and Gerald Metals, Inc.

Barbara Betkoski, Diane Betkoski, John W. Betkoski, Sr., Beacon Falls, CT, filed a brief, for pro se Defendants-Appellees, Joseph Betkoski and John W. Betkoski, Sr.

Before: CARDAMONE, WALKER, and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges.

CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:

This appeal, arising originally from the disposal of hazardous substances at two Connecticut landfills, Beacon Heights and Laurel Park, requires us to determine whether defendants accused of generating and transporting hazardous substances deposited at the two landfill sites might be liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to contribute to the costs of cleaning up the sites. Under CERCLA, several classes of responsible parties are liable for most costs incurred in responding to and remediating sites where hazardous substances are found. We must, in addition, decide if certain parties remain susceptible to suit by the United States and the State of Connecticut for response costs incurred by these governments.

Plaintiffs-appellants the United States, the State of Connecticut, the Beacon Heights Coalition, and the Laurel Park Coalition appeal from a judgment entered May 2, 1995 by the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Dorsey, C.J.). The court granted judgment on the pleadings against the United States and Connecticut and granted summary judgment against the Beacon Heights Coalition and the Laurel Park Coalition and in favor of nearly 100 defendants alleged in plaintiffs' complaints to be potentially responsible parties in an action under CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-9675, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Pub.L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613 (1986).

The Beacon Heights and Laurel Park Coalitions are groups of industrial waste generators that sought contribution from third parties after having settled their liability with the United States, the State of Connecticut, and the Murthas and affiliated entities--the owners/operators of the two landfill sites. The Laurel Park Coalition sought initially to add 1151 other potentially responsible parties to the litigation. The district court ground away at this number slowly, yet it "ground exceeding small." Insisting that these plaintiffs only implead those parties against whom they had a claim that was both legally and factually substantiated, the district court reduced to 41 the 1151 third party defendants that these plaintiffs moved to add, thus eliminating over 1000 potential parties from the suit.

Later, with motions for summary judgment before it, the district court construed some of CERCLA's basic provisions in a manner inconsistent with our precedents and, ruling that the coalitions had failed to advance sufficient proof, thereby was able to grant summary judgment to nearly all of the roughly 100 defendants, dismissing plaintiffs' complaints against them. The district court also found that both governments had been fully reimbursed by the industrial coalitions and the landfills' owners and therefore granted summary judgment against these governments.

BACKGROUND

We assume the reader's familiarity with our previous decision in this case, B.F. Goodrich Co. v. Murtha, 958 F.2d 1192 (2d Cir.1992) (Murtha I...

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