Valbruna Slater Steel Corp. v. Joslyn Mfg. Co.

298 F. Supp. 3d 1194
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJanuary 16, 2018
DocketCase No. 1:10–CV–044 JD
StatusPublished

This text of 298 F. Supp. 3d 1194 (Valbruna Slater Steel Corp. v. Joslyn Mfg. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Valbruna Slater Steel Corp. v. Joslyn Mfg. Co., 298 F. Supp. 3d 1194 (N.D. Ind. 2018).

Opinion

JON E. DEGUILIO, Judge, United States District Court

This case arises under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. In response to a cost recovery claim filed by Valbruna Slater Steel Corporation and Fort Wayne Steel Corporation (collectively, "Valbruna"), Joslyn Manufacturing Company, Joslyn Corporation, and Joslyn Manufacturing Company, LLC (collectively, "Joslyn"), filed a contribution counterclaim under § 113(f). The Court heard that counterclaim in Phase II of a bench trial on June 12, 2017, and now enters its findings of fact and conclusions of law as to the same.

BACKGROUND

This environmental litigation has endured for more than seven years. To summarize briefly, Valbruna owns a contaminated steel processing site, which it has spent a considerable sum to remediate. To recover its cleanup expenses under § 107(a), it sued Joslyn, which used to own the site for fifty plus years. The Court adjudicated that claim at Phase I of trial, finding Joslyn strictly liable to Valbruna for $2,029,871.09 in costs. The Court further disallowed $181,380.83 in costs, determining that they were not necessary and/or were not consistent with the National Contingency Plan. [DE 175].

The resolution of that claim does not, however, end this matter. A defendant in a § 107(a) suit can "blunt any inequitable distribution of costs by filing a § 113(f) counterclaim," which requires "the equitable apportionment of costs among the liable parties, including the PRP that filed the § 107(a) action." United States v. Atl. Research Corp. , 551 U.S. 128, 140, 127 S.Ct. 2331, 168 L.Ed.2d 28 (2007). Joslyn *1196took such a course here, thereby requiring it to bear the burden of proof in demonstrating an entitlement to contribution. NCR Corp. v. George A. Whiting Paper Co. , 768 F.3d 682, 690 (7th Cir. 2014). Since the parties agree that the prima facie case has been satisfied as to liability under § 107 [DE 161], it remains only for the Court to equitably allocate costs under § 113(f). To that end, the Court held Phase II of trial on contribution issues on June 12, 2017. Based upon its consideration of the testimony at trial and the other evidence submitted by the parties, the Court now enters the following conclusions of law and findings of fact pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52 :

FACTS

The parties stipulated to the following facts:

1. From 1928 to 1981, Joslyn owned property located at what is presently identified as 2302 and 2400 Taylor Street f/k/a 1701 McKinley Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana (collectively, "Site") and operated a steel manufacturing facility on the Site ("Steel Facility") for all of those years.
2. On February 2, 1981, Joslyn sold the Site and Steel Facility to Slater Steel Corporation ("Slater").
3. In June 2003, Slater filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ("Slater Bankruptcy").
4. The soil and groundwater at and around the Site are contaminated with numerous hazardous substances, including chlorinated organic chemicals (e.g., TCE), semi-volatile organic chemicals, heavy metals, PCBs and radioactive elements related to historical operations at the Site.
5. Valbruna acquired the Site in April 2004 following an auction conducted as part of the Slater Bankruptcy.
6. FWSC acquired that portion of the Site presently identified as 2302 Taylor Street ("2302 Property"), and VSSC acquired that portion of the Site presently identified as 2400 Taylor Street ("2400 Property").
7. In April 2004, Valbruna and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management ("IDEM") entered into a Prospective Purchasers Agreement ("PPA"), which required Valbruna to spend approximately $1 million on Site investigation and remediation work in response to pre-existing contamination at and from the Site. Valbruna contributed $500,000 of the $1 million.
8. From 2005 to 2006, Valbruna conducted Electrical Resistance Heating ("ERH") utilizing the PPA funds to address volatile organic compound impacts at a portion of the Site where degreasing operations had historically occurred.
9. In June 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") inspected the Site in relation to its historical contamination issues.
10. By letter dated November 1, 2007, IDEM issued a Risk Assessment Review outlining the Site's remaining areas of environmental concern after the ERH work.
11. In 2008, VSSC and FWSC each entered their respective portions of the Site into IDEM's Voluntary Remediation Program ("VRP").
12. As part of participating in VRP, the applicants (VSSC and FWSC) and IDEM entered into separate Voluntary Remediation Agreements in March 2011.
13. Valbruna has never operated a melt shop at the Site or conducted any manufacturing operations at the 2302 Property.
14. Valbruna currently operates a steel rolling facility at the 2400 Property.

*1197[DE 163 at 5-6]. The Court will set forth additional facts as they are relevant to its analysis below. Most of the evidence at trial was undisputed, though the Court also notes and explains its resolution of factual conflicts where necessary.

ANALYSIS

In allocating costs under § 113(f), the Court has "broad and loose" authority both in deciding which equitable factors will inform its decision and in the ultimate cost allocation determination. NCR , 768 F.3d at 695. In determining the relative contribution of the parties, courts must look to the "totality of the circumstances." Kerr-McGee Chem. Corp. v. Lefton Iron & Metal Co. , 14 F.3d 321, 326 (7th Cir. 1994) (reversing for failure to show an awareness of certain relevant factors before arriving at an equitable conclusion based on the record). Courts often consider the Gore factors, though are not restricted to them. Envtl. Transp. Sys., Inc. v.

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Bluebook (online)
298 F. Supp. 3d 1194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valbruna-slater-steel-corp-v-joslyn-mfg-co-innd-2018.