Opinion ID: 573218
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Allocation of the Liability Between BN and D & R

Text: 23 BN argues that once the bankruptcy court upheld its CERCLA claim against D & R's § 502(e)(1)(B) challenge, the court had no choice but to ascribe to D & R full liability for BN's claim. This assertion reaches too far. Section 9613(f)(1) of CERCLA provides: 24 Any person may seek contribution from any other person who is liable or potentially liable under section [9607(a) ], during ... any civil action under ... section [9607(a) ].... In resolving contribution claims, the court may allocate response costs among liable parties using such equitable factors as the court determines are appropriate. 25 This section applies in this case for at least three reasons: (1) BN has admitted CERCLA liability; (2) this is a civil action under § 9607(a); and (3) D & R is arguing that BN should contribute to the cleanup operations. 26 The bankruptcy court determined D & R's proportionate liability for the total cleanup costs by converting to percentage the number of years D & R operated the site out of the total number of years all tenants of BN had operated the site. Because D & R had conducted its operations for 12 of the 23 years, and because estimated cleanup costs were agreed to be about $14,235,700, the court found D & R liable for $7,402,564. For the reasons cited by the district court, we hold that the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in this equitable apportionment of liability. See In re Dant & Russell, Inc., No. CV 89-24, slip op. at 11-14 (Bankr.D.Or. May 8, 1989).