Opinion ID: 1303724
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: U.S. Steel

Text: U.S. Steel, or its predecessors, owned the Water Street Site from 1902 to 1922. U.S. Steel operated iron and steel manufacturing facilities at Areas 1 and 2. From 1907 to 1922, U.S. Steel dismantled structures and equipment at an idle steel plant on Area 1. U.S. Steel also demolished the old Bessemer Steel Works that had been in use since the late 1860s to convert iron to steel on Area 2. The demolition generated materials that U.S. Steel dumped, along with byproducts from its own iron and steel manufacturing, at a landfill it owned and operated at Area 4. As a result of U.S. Steel's dumping at Area 4, this area allegedly grew in acreage. NiMo seeks contribution from U.S. Steel as the owner or operator of property who disposed of hazardous waste on its property, and as an arranger. 42 U.S.C. § 9607(a)(2)-(3). [26] NiMo contends that U.S. Steel deposited hazardous waste from its demolition and industrial activities. U.S. Steel contends that NiMo's allegations are based on speculation and are without evidentiary basis. CERCLA liability may be inferred from the totality of the circumstances as opposed to direct evidence. Tosco Corp. v. Koch Indus., Inc., 216 F.3d 886, 892 (10th Cir.2000). Because the relevant time period was from 1902 until 1922, both NiMo and U.S. Steel were forced to rely primarily on circumstantial evidence resulting in a battle of experts. NiMo's experts concluded that U.S. Steel's activities resulted in the deposit of hazardous materials while U.S. Steel's experts concluded that its activities did not. The battle bespeaks of a dispute of material fact for purposes of CERCLA liability. U.S. Steel was an owner of the property in question; there is evidence in the form of expert testimony, albeit disputed, that U.S. Steel caused hazardous deposits on the property. CERCLA does not require a smoking gun. The credibility of the experts, the type of evidence presented, the amount of hazardous waste involved, and the degree of U.S. Steel's involvement in the identified hazardous deposits are all relevant as equitable factors for the district court to use in apportioning response costs. At this stage, however, NiMo's claims against U.S. Steel survive summary judgment; U.S. Steel qualifies as an owner under § 107 and NiMo has presented evidence that hazardous deposits may have been generated and deposited at the site on U.S. Steel's watch.