United States v. New Castle County, Civ. A. No. 80-489.

• Decision Date: 17 July 1986
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 80-489.
• Citation: 642 F. Supp. 1258
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. NEW CASTLE COUNTY, William C. Ward, Stauffer Chemical Company and ICI Americas Inc., Defendants. NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Stauffer Chemical Company and ICI Americas Inc., Defendants/Third-Party Plaintiffs, v. AVON PRODUCTS, INC., NVF Company, the Budd Company, Hercules, Incorporated, Specialty Composites Corporation, Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc., Diamond Shamrock, American Hoechst Corporation, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., Motor Wheel Corporation, General Motors Corporation, Chrysler Corporation, Witco Chemical Corporation, Amoco Chemical Corporation, Keysor-Century Corporation, Koppers Company, Inc., Chloramone Corporation, FMC Corporation, Allied Corporation, Westvaco Corporation, Wilmington Chemical Corporation, Gates Engineering, Atlantic Aviation Corporation, Kennecott Corporation, Champlain Cable Corporation, Ametek, Inc., State of Delaware and Harvey & Harvey, Third-Party Defendants.

642 F. Supp. 1258

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. NEW CASTLE COUNTY, William C. Ward, Stauffer Chemical Company and ICI Americas Inc., Defendants.

NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Stauffer Chemical Company and ICI Americas Inc., Defendants/Third-Party Plaintiffs, v. AVON PRODUCTS, INC., NVF Company, the Budd Company, Hercules, Incorporated, Specialty Composites Corporation, Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc., Diamond Shamrock, American Hoechst Corporation, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., Motor Wheel Corporation, General Motors Corporation, Chrysler Corporation, Witco Chemical Corporation, Amoco Chemical Corporation, Keysor-Century Corporation, Koppers Company, Inc., Chloramone Corporation, FMC Corporation, Allied Corporation, Westvaco Corporation, Wilmington Chemical Corporation, Gates Engineering, Atlantic Aviation Corporation, Kennecott Corporation, Champlain Cable Corporation, Ametek, Inc., State of Delaware and Harvey & Harvey, Third-Party Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 80-489.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

July 17, 1986.

Richard G. Andrews, Dept. of Justice, Wilmington, Del., for U.S.; Judith A. Dorsey, U.S. E.P.A., Philadelphia, Pa., William D. Evans, Jr., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., of counsel.

B. Wilson Redfearn of Tybout, Redfearn, Casarino & Pell, Wilmington, Del., for New Castle County; George J. Weiner of Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Sheppard, Washington, D.C., of counsel.

James F. Burnett of Potter, Anderson & Corroon, Wilmington, Del., for William C. Ward.

Jeffrey B. Bove of Connolly, Bove, Lodge & Hutz, Wilmington, Del., for Stauffer Chemical Co.; Gerald Sobel of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, New York City, and Wendy J. Tish of Stauffer Chemical Co., Westport, Conn., of counsel.

Joseph C. Kelly of ICI Americas, Inc., Wilmington, Del., for ICI Americas Inc.; Denis V. Brenan of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.

Gerald C. Foulk of Miller & Foulk, Wilmington, Del., for Avon Products, Inc.; J. Brian Molloy of Wald, Harkrader & Ross, Washington, D.C., of counsel.

James T. McKinstry of Richards, Layton & Finger, Wilmington, Del., for NVF Co., General Motors Corp. and Diamond Shamrock.

J.R. Julian, Wilmington, Del., for Budd Co.; Jennifer Berke of Kelly, Harrington, McLaughlin & Foster, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.

Henry N. Herndon, Jr. of Morris, James, Hitchens & Williams, Wilmington, Del., for Hercules, Inc.; Edward Wolper of Hercules Inc., Wilmington, Del., of counsel.

James F. Bailey of Elzufon & Bailey, Wilmington, Del., for Specialty Composites Corp.; Joseph G. Manta of Frumkin & Manta, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.

James C. Laager of Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul, Wilmington, Del., for Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc.

C. Scott Reese of Cooch & Taylor, Wilmington, Del., for American Hoechst Corp.; Lorelei J. Borland of Morgan, Melhuish, Monaghan, Meyer, Arvidson, Arbrutzer & Liskowski, New York City, of counsel.

Richard Allen Paul of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del., for E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.

David C. Toomey of Duane, Morris & Heckscher, Philadelphia, Pa., for Motor Wheel Corp. and Allied Corp.

Kurt J. Doelze of Ferri & Doelze, Wilmington, Del., for Chrysler Corp.; Harry A. Short, Jr., of Liebert, Short, Fitzpatrick & Hirshland, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.

John C. Phillips, Jr. of Phillips & Snyder, Wilmington, Del., for Witco Chemical Corp.; Thomas J. Jackson of Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, Pittsburgh, Pa., of counsel.

Howard M. Berg of Howard M. Berg & Associates, Wilmington, Del., for Amoco Corp.; Ronald J. Ganim of Amoco Corp., Chicago, Ill., of counsel.

William J. Weir, Jr. of Herlihy & Weir, Wilmington, Del., for Keysor-Century Corp.

John C. Phillips, Jr. of Phillips & Snyder, Wilmington, Del., for Koppers Co., Inc.; Jill M. Blundon of Koppers Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., of counsel.

John W. Noble of Parkowski, Noble & Guerke, Dover, Del., for Chloramone Corp.

John C. Phillips, Jr. of Phillips & Snyder, Wilmington, Del., for FMC Corp.; William R. Herman of Dechert Price & Rhoads, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.

Thomas G. Hughes of O'Donnell & Hughes, Wilmington, Del., for Westvaco Corp.; Brigid E. Kenney of Venable, Baetjer & Howard, Baltimore, Md., of counsel.

Stephen P. Lamb of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Wilmington, Del., Wilmington Chemical Corp.; John H. Klock of Crummy, DelDeo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, Newark, N.J., of counsel.

James P. Collins of Healy & Collins, Wilmington, Del., for Gates Engineering; Blake A. Biles of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Washington, D.C., of counsel.

James T. McKinstry of Richards, Layton & Finger, Wilmington, Del., for Atlantic Aviation; Franklin S. Eyster, II of Atlantic Aviation Corp., Wilmington, Del., of counsel.

Robert J. Katzenstein of Lassen, Smith, Katzenstein & Furlow, Wilmington, Del., for Kennecott Corp.; Stephen W. Miller of Clark, Ladner, Fortenbaugh & Young, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.

Henry N. Herndon, Jr. of Morris, James, Hitchens & Williams, Wilmington, Del., for Champlain Cable Corp. and Ametek, Inc.

Robert R. Thompson, Dept. of Justice, Dover, Del., for State of Del.

James M. Geddes of Ashby, McKelvie & Geddes, Wilmington, Del., for Harvey & Harvey.

OPINION

LONGOBARDI, District Judge.

Defendants ICI Americas Inc., New Castle County and Stauffer Chemical Company have filed third-party complaints against various entities, each of which allegedly disposed of hazardous substances at the Tybout's Corner Landfill site during the period of its operation. Docket Item ("D.I.") 474, 492 and 496. The Defendants contend that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA") (42 U.S.C. § 9601, et seq.) provides the authority for them to recover some of their expenditures for clean-up costs from third parties. The Third-Party Defendants¹ "TPDs" have moved to dismiss all third-party claims contending that no right to contribution exists under CERCLA.

I. BACKGROUND

Courts have been virtually unanimous in holding that some form of private right of action is authorized under CERCLA. Artesian Water Co. v. Govt. of New Castle County, 605 F.Supp. 1348 (D.Del.1985); Walls v. Waste Resource Corp., 761 F.2d 311, 22 E.R.C. 1785 (6th Cir.1985); Mola Development Corp. v. U.S., 22 E.R.C. 1443 (C.D.Cal.1985) (available in WESTLAW, DCTU database); State of Colo. v. ASARCO, Inc., 608 F.Supp. 1484 (D.Colo. 1985); U.S. v. Ward, 22 E.R.C. 1235 (E.D.N.C.1984); Pinole Point Properties v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 596 F.Supp. 283 (N.D.Cal.1984); Jones v. Inmont Corp., 584 F.Supp. 1425 (S.D.Ohio 1984); City of Philadelphia v. Stepan Chemical Co., 544 F.Supp. 1135 (E.D.Pa.1982); contra, U.S. v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 22 E.R.C. 1230 (S.D.Ind.1983).

The specific statutory authority supporting a right of action under CERCLA is section 107(a)(1-3), (4)(B) 42 U.S.C. § 9607(a)(1-3), (4)(B) ("section 107(a)(4)(B)"). This section states in pertinent part:

9607. Liability

(a) Covered persons; scope

Notwithstanding any other provisions or rule of law, and subject only to the defenses set forth in subsection (b) of this section—

(1) the owner and operator of a ... facility,

(2) any person who at the time of disposal of any hazardous substance owned or operated any facility at which such hazardous substances were disposed of,

(3) any person who by contract, agreement, or otherwise arranged for disposal or treatment, or arranged with a transporter for transport for disposal or treatment, of hazardous substances owned or possessed by such person, by any other party or entity, at any facility owned or operated by another party or entity and containing such hazardous substances, and

(4) any person who accepts or accepted any hazardous substances for transport to disposal or treatment facilities or sites selected by such person, from which there is a release, or a threatened release which causes the incurrence of response costs, of a hazardous substance, shall be liable for—

* * * * * *

(B) any other necessary costs of response incurred by any other person consistent with the national contingency plan;

42 U.S.C. § 9607(a)(4)(B) CERCLA § 107(a)(4)(B).

In Walls v. Waste Resources Corp., 761 F.2d 311, 22 E.R.C. 1785, a group of residents sued the owners, operators and users of a landfill to recover moneys plaintiffs had spent to abate the environmental damage caused by leakage at the landfill. The court found that Congress did "intend to create a private right of action under CERCLA" by the language of section 107(a)(4)(B). Id. at 1790; see Jones v. Inmont Corp., 584 F.Supp. 1425.

Similarly, in Artesian Water Company v. Govt. of New Castle County, 605 F.Supp. 1348, a water company successfully sued the county for costs it incurred in providing its customers with an alternative water supply after a release of hazardous substances at the county landfill threatened the existing supply. The court found that "the clear language" of CERCLA provided the water company a private right of action to recover its costs. Id. at 1356.

The Court agrees with the weight of authority and holds that a private right of action is authorized under CERCLA pursuant to section 107(a)(4)(B). The right of action emanates from the plain language of the section and provides relief to any person incurring response costs for which another person is otherwise liable under the Act.

TPD's have moved to dismiss the third party complaints asserting that no right to contribution exists under CERCLA. Defendants/Third-Party Plaintiffs argue that the same plain language of section 107(a)(4)(B) which supports a private right of action necessarily authorizes the right of a responsible party once sued to recover from another responsible party. This result, however, is not mandated by the plain language of section 107(a)(4)(B). Two phrases within section 107(a)(4)(B) raise serious questions as to the applicability of that provision as authority for a right to contribution....