Opinion ID: 795431
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pre-SARA Liability: Implied Contribution Rights

Text: 22 Prior to the enactment of the SARA amendments in 1986, several courts held that CERCLA exposed PRPs to joint and several liability, and that this implied a right of contribution among joint tortfeasors. See, e.g., United States v. S.C. Recycling & Disposal, Inc., 653 F.Supp. 984, 994 (D.S.C.1986), vacated in part on other grounds sub nom. United States v. Monsanto Co., 858 F.2d 160 (4th Cir.1988); United States v. Chem-Dyne Corp., 572 F.Supp. 802, 807-08, 810 (S.D.Ohio 1983). Innocent parties were allowed to recover their full response costs from any PRP under § 107(a)(4)(B), see Wickland Oil Terminals v. Asarco, Inc., 792 F.2d 887, 889, 891-92 (9th Cir.1986); Walls v. Waste Res. Corp., 761 F.2d 311, 317-18 (6th Cir. 1985), and PRPs were allowed contribution pursuant to either an implied cause of action under § 107, see City of Phila. v. Stepan Chem. Co., 544 F.Supp. 1135, 1142-43 (E.D.Pa.1982), or the common law, see United States v. New Castle County, 642 F.Supp. 1258, 1267-69 (D.Del.1986) (hereafter NCC ); Colorado v. ASARCO, Inc., 608 F.Supp. 1484, 1489-90, 1491 (D.Colo. 1985). As the Supreme Court has explained, these cases allowed private parties, including PRPs, to seek contribution for costs incurred in forced or voluntary cleanups. See, e.g., Cooper Indus., 543 U.S. at 161-62, 125 S.Ct. 577 (citing cases); Reading, 115 F.3d at 1118-19 (same, and noting that, [u]ntil the passage of SARA in 1986, the judicially[ ] created expansion of § 107(a)(4)(B) served as the sole means by which parties could obtain contribution). 23