Opinion ID: 794918
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Stillbottoms

Text: 39 Hercules argues that the stillbottom waste was not disposed of until after Hercules sold the plant and that thus it is not responsible for any of the costs related to that disposal. Vertac began accumulating 2,4,5-T stillbottom drums on-site in 1975, and it bought the plant from Hercules in 1976. Hercules claims that Vertac merely stored the waste for the purpose of later recycling, and thus did not dispose of the waste until 1979, when the registration for 2,4,5-T was suspended. Accordingly, Hercules claims that the 2,4,5-T stillbottom drums constituted a distinct harm and that it should not be liable for their incineration. 40 Section 103(a) of CERCLA holds liable any person who at the time of disposal of any hazardous substance owned or operated any facility at which such hazardous substances were disposed of. 42 U.S.C. § 9607(a)(2). The term facility includes, any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed. 42 U.S.C. § 9601(9). Finally, as we recounted above, disposal includes placing hazardous waste in a manner that allows the waste to enter the environment. Simply stated, the district court found that Hercules owned a facility at which hazardous waste was allowed to enter the environment. Specifically, it found that the stillbottoms leaked onto the ground when Hercules owned the plant. This finding is supported by Quigley's expert testimony: [W]hen the wastes [stillbottoms] were put into drums for disposal, they were put into recycle drums, . . . and those recycle drums did leak, some of them instantaneously upon having the waste put in them, and other times shortly after the waste being put in them. J.A. at 28082. Robert Fischer, a chemist with Hercules and Vertac, also testified that the deterioration of the T drums was one of the major sources of dioxin contamination at the site. J.A. at 27060. In light of this testimony, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in holding Hercules liable for the incineration of the stillbottoms.