Opinion ID: 706842
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Liability of ADS as a Transporter Under Sec. 107(a)(4) of CERCLA.

Text: 47 Liability as a transporter is established by showing that a person accepted hazardous substances for transport and either selected the disposal facility or had substantial input into deciding where the hazardous substance should be disposed. See Tippins, 37 F.3d at 94. In this case, the evidence established that during the pertinent time frame ADS accepted for disposal drummed liquid waste generated by USX. It is undisputed that the drummed liquid waste of USX contained hazardous substances. 48 In support of its contention that ADS selected the Tabernacle Site for disposal of USX drummed liquid waste, the United States presented the testimony of the ADS mechanic who leased the Tabernacle Site and who had been paid by ADS to accept the drummed liquid waste for storage. The United States also presented the testimony of the ADS mechanic's former wife, Edith Ruhl, who said that she witnessed the dumping of barrels from ADS trucks on the Tabernacle Site. Corroborating Ms. Ruhl's eyewitness observations was the testimony of the sole ADS dispatcher at the time, who said that he sent drummed liquid waste to the Tabernacle Site. At least one of the drums found at the site had attached to it USX shipping documents, and other drums bore the name USX. 49 ADS contends that aerial photographs of the Tabernacle Site taken between 1978 and 1980 call into question the credibility of the testimony that ADS dumped drums at the Tabernacle Site. ADS points out that while Ruhl and her former husband testified that approximately 200 barrels were dumped in 1976 or 1977, the aerial photographs disclose less than one dozen drum-like objects at the site for the years 1978 through 1980. 50 As noted above, a factual dispute is genuine only if the evidence proffered by the non-moving party is sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to decide in favor of the non-moving party. When considered in the context of the testimony of Ware that ADS had paid him for storage of drummed waste at the Tabernacle Site, the eyewitness testimony of his former wife, who said she saw three ADS trucks dump barrels at the site, and the testimony of the ADS dispatcher that he sent up to three trucks of drummed waste to the Tabernacle Site, the interpretation of aerial photographs, confirming as it does the existence of some drums at the Tabernacle Site, is not sufficient to cause a reasonable jury to find that ADS did not transport USX drummed waste to the Tabernacle Site. Accordingly, the declaratory judgment that ADS is liable for future response costs will be affirmed. 51