Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/17-1498_8mjp.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 17–1498 
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ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY, PETITIONER v. 
GREGORY A. CHRISTIAN, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME 
COURT OF MONTANA 

[April 20, 2020] 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  ROBERTS  delivered  the  opinion  of  the 

Court. 

For  nearly  a  century,  the  Anaconda  Copper  Smelter  in
Butte, Montana contaminated an area of over 300 square
miles  with  arsenic  and  lead.  Over  the  past  35  years,  the
Environmental  Protection  Agency  has  worked  with  the 
current owner of the smelter, Atlantic Richfield Company, 
to implement a cleanup plan under the Comprehensive En-
vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 
1980.  EPA projects that the cleanup will continue through 
2025. 

A  group  of  98  landowners  sued  Atlantic  Richfield  in 
Montana  state  court  for  common  law  nuisance,  trespass, 
and strict liability.  Among other remedies, the landowners
sought  restoration  damages,  which  under  Montana  law 
must be spent on rehabilitation of the property.  The land-
owners’  proposed  restoration  plan  includes  measures  be-
yond  those  the  agency  found  necessary  to  protect  human
health and the environment. 

We consider whether the Act strips the Montana courts
of  jurisdiction  over  the  landowners’  claim  for  restoration