Opinion ID: 2716431
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Superfund Litigation

Text: In 2003, the EPA designated approximately 27 square miles around the former Asarco smelter as a Superfund site. The EPA took enforcement action against Asarco, alleging liability of $400 million for the cost of removing lead from the affected area. Faced with crushing environmental liabilities for “many of the largest, oldest, and most complex Superfund sites in the country, including the two largest,” Asarco filed for bankruptcy in 2005. In re ASARCO LLC, No. 05-21207, 2011 WL 2974957, at  (Bankr. S.D. Tex. July 20, 2011). In 2009, the bankruptcy court approved Asarco’s approximately $214 million settlement of the EPA’s claims related to the Omaha site. -4- The EPA also named UP as a potentially responsible party. UP owned the smelter site, leasing it to Asarco until the late 1940s when Asarco bought the land. The Act extends liability to any “owner” of “any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located,” 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601(9), 9607(a)(1), with the only time limit on recovery beginning to run once “remedial action” begins, id. § 9613(g)(2)(B). “Liability under the statute is generally strict and subject to very narrow defenses.” Stewman v. Mid- S. Wood Prods. of MENA, Inc., 784 F. Supp. 611, 615 (W.D. Ark. 1992) (M.S. Arnold, J.). Once the government proves liability, “all of the defendants are jointly and severally liable, unless a particular defendant can establish that his harm is divisible, a difficult proposition.” Control Data Corp. v. S.C.S.C. Corp., 53 F.3d 930, 934 n.4 (8th Cir. 1995). UP took the position that peeling lead-based paint—rather than airborne lead from the smelter—was “the main lead source” in the Superfund area. To obtain evidentiary support, UP filed numerous requests for EPA documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552. UP discovered e-mails indicating some EPA officials were withholding evidence which UP believed could support its position. Learning of this possibility, Asarco sought to intervene in UP’s FOIA case in the hope that material hidden by the EPA could provide a basis to void Asarco’s settlement with the EPA. Yet Asarco also wanted UP to contribute a share of the $214 million already paid. To facilitate Asarco’s intervention in the FOIA case, UP agreed to toll the statute of limitations applicable to any contribution action for “two years after a final judgment is obtained in the FOIA Litigation and any appeals therefrom are exhausted.” Apart from the statute of limitations, the “Tolling Agreement” expressly “reserve[d] all rights and defenses which [Asarco and UP] may have . . . to contest or defend any claim or action [by] the other.” Using information obtained by UP, Asarco succeeded in reducing its EPA payment by $15 million. -5- Meanwhile, UP and the EPA agreed to settle their respective FOIA and CERCLA claims: without admitting fault, UP would pay $25 million. Asarco’s counsel received direct notice of the tentative agreement, and notice of the CERCLA consent decree appeared in the Federal Register, see Notice of Consent Decrees, 76 Fed. Reg. 33,364 (June 8, 2011). Asarco did not comment or object during the thirtyday public comment period, and the district court approved the settlements on August 9, 2011. The resulting consent decree provided UP with “protection from contribution actions or claims” relating to the Superfund site. See 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f)(2).