New York v. Solvent Chemical Co.

871 F. Supp. 2d 209, 75 ERC (BNA) 2034, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69243, 2012 WL 1790383
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedMay 16, 2012
DocketNo. 83-CV-1401-JTC
StatusPublished

This text of 871 F. Supp. 2d 209 (New York v. Solvent Chemical Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New York v. Solvent Chemical Co., 871 F. Supp. 2d 209, 75 ERC (BNA) 2034, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69243, 2012 WL 1790383 (W.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

JOHN T. CURTIN, District Judge.

On January 26, 2010, following years of protracted litigation and a lengthy non jury trial, this court issued a Memorandum of Decision incorporating its findings of fact and conclusions of law on the issues pertaining to liability and equitable allocation of responsibility for response costs incurred in remediating environmental contamination at adjoining industrial sites located in Niagara Falls, New York, pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response and Compensation Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-9675. New York v. Solvent Chemical Co., Inc., 685 F.Supp.2d 357 (W.D.N.Y.2010). The court awarded third-party plaintiff' Solvent Chemical Company, Inc. (“Solvent”) contribution from third-party defendant E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (“DuPont”) in the amount of $2,050,371, and from third-party defendant Olin Corporation (“Olin”) in the amount of $462,288, for past costs associated with the remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater at Solvent’s facility located at 3163 Buffalo Avenue (the “Solvent Site”), and groundwater contamination at a portion of Olin’s neighboring property known as the “Olin Hot Spot.” The court denied Solvent’s request for declaratory judgment as to liability for future cleanup costs, determining upon consideration of the equitable factors “that final judgment regarding the allocation of future costs to any party other than Solvent would be premature.” Id at 455-56. Judgment was entered on May 14, 2010 (Item 1547), and all parties appealed.

On December 19, 2011, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals entered separately (1) an Opinion and (2) a Summary Order constituting its ruling on the parties’ appeals. New York v. Solvent Chemical Co., Inc., 664 F.3d 22 (2d Cir.2011) (“Opinion”); New York v. Solvent Chemical Co., Inc., 453 Fed.Appx. 42 (2d Cir.2011) (“Summary Order ”). The ruling vacated this court’s allocation of response costs as between Solvent, DuPont, and Olin with respect to the Olin Hot Spot, and reversed the judgment insofar as this court declined to issue a declaratory judgment in favor of Solvent against DuPont and Olin as to liability for recovery of future response costs. The ruling affirmed this court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in [211]*211all other respects, and remanded only for reallocation of response costs for the Olin Hot Spot and entry of declaratory judgment in favor of Solvent on liability for future response costs.

In the wake of this ruling, a status conference was held with counsel on February 15, 2012 to discuss the parties’ respective positions regarding an appropriate way to address the matters necessary for compliance with the Second Circuit’s directives on remand. Failing to reach a consensus, the parties were ordered to submit written proposals, which the court has now had the opportunity to consider.

Upon full consideration of the Second Circuit’s Opinion and Summary Order, and for the reasons discussed below, the court finds that those portions of its January 26, 2010 findings of fact and conclusions of law that were either expressly affirmed or undisturbed on appeal remain binding on the parties, and provide a solid basis for both reallocation of responsibility at the Olin Hot Spot and entry of declaratory judgment in favor of Solvent regarding equitable allocation of ongoing remediation costs. This can be done without resort to additional discovery, presentation of evidence, briefing, argument, or other wasteful re-visitation of issues that have been exhaustively litigated during years of pretrial proceedings, lengthy trial on the merits, and on appeal. Accordingly, in the interests of economy of public and private resources, judicial efficiency, and finality, the court turns to the record as it stands for compliance with the directives on remand.

To recap, in its decision after trial, this court found DuPont and Olin liable for contribution under CERCLA § 113(f) for an equitable share of response costs incurred by Solvent to remediate contamination at both the Solvent Site and the Olin Hot Spot by virtue of the migration of hazardous substances to both areas from the DuPont and Olin facilities. Solvent Chemical, 685 F.Supp.2d at 430-38. The court then adopted, with certain modifications, the volumetric allocation methodology proposed by Solvent’s allocation expert, James Kohanek, and allocated responsibility among the three parties for costs incurred through the agreed upon date of June 30, 2007 for each of the four separate components of the remediation — the contaminated soils at the Solvent Site; the shallow overburden (or “A-Zone”) groundwater contamination at the Solvent Site; the bedrock (or “B-Zone”) groundwater contamination at the Solvent Site; and the groundwater contamination at the Hot Spot.1 The court dismissed Solvent’s claim for a declaratory judgment against both DuPont and Olin with respect to remediation costs incurred after June 30, 2007, finding upon consideration of “key equitable factors” that “final judgment regarding the allocation of future costs to any party other than Solvent would be premature.” Id. at 455-56.

The parties each appealed different aspects of this court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. For its part, Solvent appealed the denial of the request for a declaratory judgment and the allocation of costs incurred at the Olin Hot Spot. DuPont appealed the court’s ruling on certain discrete issues regarding threshold contribution liability under CERCLA, and the court’s failure to consider toxicity as a factor in determining the groundwater allocation. Olin challenged certain issues [212]*212related to the court’s allocation of responsibility for costs incurred in connection with the cleanup of Gill Creek. Significantly, neither DuPont nor Olin appealed this court’s adoption of Mr. Kohanek’s volumetric-based allocation methodology, or for that matter, any of the court’s factual findings or evidentiary rulings with respect to hydrogeology and groundwater migration pathways between the various facilities. See Item 1566, pp. 2-4.

In its December 19, 2011 Opinion and Summary Order, the Second Circuit sustained both of Solvent’s arguments on appeal, while rejecting all of the arguments raised by DuPont and Olin. With respect to the claim for declaratory judgment, the circuit court found that while the equitable factors considered by this court in declining to issue a final judgment might justify a refusal to allocate future cleanup responsibility, they did not support the refusal to grant declaratory judgment as to liability itself. The Second Circuit stated:

The district court has already decided that Olin and DuPont were liable for contribution as to historical losses. Save for the possibility that the DEC might in the future impose different remedies to clean up the chlorinated aliphatics, none of the factors identified by the court distinguishes between past and future cleanup. That is to say, the factors do not explain why DuPont and Olin should pay for cleanup costs through June 30, 2007, but not for those incurred on July 1, 2007 and thereafter. And should the DEC take action in the future regarding chlorinated aliphatics, the district court can consider that fact in allocating costs down the road.

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871 F. Supp. 2d 209, 75 ERC (BNA) 2034, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69243, 2012 WL 1790383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-york-v-solvent-chemical-co-nywd-2012.