United States v. Pioneer Natural Res. Co.

309 F. Supp. 3d 923
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedApril 18, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 17–cv–0168–WJM–NYW
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 309 F. Supp. 3d 923 (United States v. Pioneer Natural Res. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Pioneer Natural Res. Co., 309 F. Supp. 3d 923 (D. Colo. 2018).

Opinion

William J. Martínez, United States District Judge

In this action brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et seq. , the United States, as Plaintiff, seeks to recover from Defendants, Pioneer Natural Resources Company ("Pioneer Natural Resources"), and Pioneer Natural Resources, USA, Inc. ("Pioneer-USA"), certain costs incurred in response to the release (or threatened release) of hazardous waste at the Nelson Tunnel/Commodore Waste Rock Pile Superfund Site, located in Mineral County, Colorado.

Now before the Court is the United States' Early Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Defendants' Corporate Successor Liability (ECF No. 46), in which the United States seeks a ruling as a matter of law that Defendants "are liable for the CERCLA liabilities, to be determined at a later date" of certain predecessor entities, namely, that (1) Defendant Pioneer Natural Resources is a successor to the CERCLA liabilities of Pioneer Nuclear, Incorporated (here, "PNI") and (2) that Defendant Pioneer-USA is a successor to the CERCLA liabilities of Mesa Operating Limited Partnership (here, "MOLP") (id. at 53). For the reasons explained below, the Motion is granted.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c) ; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) ; Henderson v. Inter-Chem Coal Co., Inc. , 41 F.3d 567, 569 (10th Cir. 1994). Whether there is a genuine dispute as to a material fact depends upon whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or conversely, is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby , 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) ; Stone v. Autoliv ASP, Inc. , 210 F.3d 1132 (10th Cir. 2000). A fact is "material" if it pertains to an element of a claim or defense; a factual dispute is "genuine" if the evidence is so contradictory that if the matter went to *925trial, a reasonable jury could return a verdict for either party. Anderson , 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

In ruling on summary judgment, the Court must resolve factual ambiguities against the moving party, thus favoring the right to a trial. Houston v. Nat'l Gen. Ins. Co. , 817 F.2d 83, 85 (10th Cir. 1987). "[T]he moving party carries the burden of showing beyond a reasonable doubt that it is entitled to summary judgment." Pelt v. Utah , 539 F.3d 1271, 1280 (10th Cir. 2008). Where, as here, the moving party would have the burden of proof at trial, the movant "must establish, as a matter of law, all essential elements of the issue before the nonmoving party can be obligated to bring forward any specific facts alleged to rebut the movant's case." Id. However, "[a]lthough the burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact is upon the movant, the nonmovant must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Champagne Metals v. Ken-Mac Metals, Inc. , 458 F.3d 1073, 1084 (10th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted; alterations incorporated).1

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. The Site & Alleged Liability of PNI and MOLP

The Nelson Tunnel/Commodore Waste Rock Pile Superfund Site (the "Site") is located in the San Juan Mountains, just north of the town of Creede, Colorado, in an area with a long history of silver mining. (See ECF No. 1 ¶ 7; id. at 18.) As alleged by the United States, mining activity commenced there by the 1890s and continued at least through the 1980s. (Id. ¶¶ 9-10.) The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has designated two operating units within the Site; relevant here is "OU1," which is the Commodore Waste Rock Pile (the "Rockpile"). (Id. ¶ 6.)

In general terms, the United States alleges that over the course of many years, waste rock from mining excavations "was cast down the mountainside into the West Willow Creek drainage," creating the Rockpile; and that "[l]ayers of cribbing to contain waste rock" and "makeshift hydraulic structures to convey West Willow Creek over and under the [Rockpile] ... were installed over many years by several mining companies," including certain wooden flume structures and "a steel pipe ... pieced together from parts of railroad tank cars." (Id. ¶¶ 11-12.)2

In this CERCLA case, the United States alleges that PNI and MOLP, as well as another related entity, Mesa Limited Partnership ("MLP"),3 conducted mining operations at the Site between 1983 and 1989 (see id.

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309 F. Supp. 3d 923, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-pioneer-natural-res-co-cod-2018.