On May 7, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey denied Defendant ISP Environmental Service Inc.’s (“IES”) motion to dismiss the United States’ (“the Government”) complaint seeking relief under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”). United States v. ISP Envt’l Servs. Inc., 2024 WL 2013949 (D.N.J. 2024).  IES had argued in support of its motion to dismiss that it was neither an owner or operator of the site at issue, and therefore, was not a potentially responsible party under CERCLA.   The district court nevertheless held that IES was potentially liable under CERCLA as the corporate successor of another entity that had owned and operated the site, GAF Chemicals, because the Government plausibly alleged that IES assumed the liabilities for the site pursuant to a contract with GAF Chemicals.    Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: CERCLA, Cost Recovery, Successor Liability, Superfund

In Kanawha Forest Coalition, et al. v. Keystone WV, 2:22-cv-00367, 2023 WL 6466210 (S.D. W.V. Oct. 4, 2023), the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division granted summary judgment against the operator of three defunct surface mines for past violations of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (“SMCRA”) but granted summary judgment in favor of the operator with regard to claims of ongoing permit violations, finding that the Plaintiffs’ theories constituted a collateral attack on validly-issued permits.  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Citizens Suit, Clean Water Act, Mining, NPDES, Permits, Successor Liability, West Virginia

Recently, there has been an explosion of litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) contamination.  In SUEZ Water New York Inc. v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, et al., No. 20-CV-10731 (LJL), 2022 WL 36489, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2022), a federal district court dismissed PFAS related contamination claims against four Delaware corporate defendants:  E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc. (“Old DuPont”), The Chemours Company (“Chemours”), DuPont de Nemours, Inc (“New DuPont”), and Corteva, Inc. (“Corteva”) (collectively “Defendants”).  The court dismissed the Complaint against New DuPont and Corteva due to lack of personal jurisdiction over each defendant.  Although the court found that personal jurisdiction existed over Old DuPont and Chemours, it ultimately still dismissed the Complaint against these defendants due to Plaintiff’s failure to state a claim against each of them. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Causation, Drinking Water, Negligence, New York, Nuisance, Personal Jurisdiction, PFAS, Strict Liability, Successor Liability, Trespass

On August 3, 2021, in the Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (“MTBE”) MDL the Court ruled that while the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's alter ego allegations were sufficient to pierce the corporate veil as between defendants Lukoil Americas Corporation and its subsidiary Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. for jurisdictional purposes, they were not sufficient to pierce the veil for liability purposes, nor was there successor liability, resulting in the dismissal of all claims against LAC. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Alter Ego, Corporate Veil, Insurance Coverage, Multi-District Litigation, Nuisance, Pennsylvania, Spill Act, Storage Tank, Successor Liability, Water

In a Letter Order issued on July 10, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that broad language by which an entity assumed the liabilities of a dissolved entity was sufficient to confer both personal jurisdiction and liability on the entity which assumed the obligations. Occidental Chemical Corporation v. 21^st Century Fox America, et. al., Civ. Action No. 18-11273 (D.N.J. July 10, 2020). In doing so, the Court brushed aside arguments that the jurisdiction was lacking because the dissolved entity had ceased operations in New Jersey long before the assumption of liability and that the lack of specificity in the assumption precluded a finding that CERCLA liability was included. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: CERCLA, Contribution, Cost Recovery, New Jersey, Personal Jurisdiction, Sediment Sites, Successor Liability, Superfund