Opinion ID: 1303724
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: New York Navigation Law Claims

Text: Under New York Navigation Law, anyone who has discharged petroleum shall be strictly liable, without regard to fault, for all cleanup and removal costs and all direct and indirect damages. N.Y. Nav. L. § 181(1). This includes costs incurred from investigation and remediation of petroleum. See, e.g., New York v. LVF Realty Co., 59 A.D.3d 519, 521, 873 N.Y.S.2d 664 (2d Dep't 2009). A party who shoulders the cleanup and removal costs and is not at fault for the petroleum discharge may pursue a claim against the actual polluters. N.Y. Nav. L. §§ 172(3), 181(5). NiMo brought Navigation Law claims against the defendants for their discharge of petroleum. However, NiMo had also discharged petroleum at the Water Street Site. As the district court correctly concluded, under the language of § 181, NiMo cannot pursue claims against the defendants because NiMo is at fault for at least some of the petroleum discharge at the site. However, there is an additional provision of New York Navigation Law that affords NiMo a cause of action. Under § 176(8), every person providing cleanup [or] removal of discharge of petroleum... shall be entitled to contribution from any other responsible party. N.Y. Nav. L. § 176(8). Every person is obviously inclusive and the language other responsible party indicates that the drafters were aware that every person could encompass a responsible party. NiMo is entitled to seek contribution for its response costs related to petroleum discharges. We agree with the district court that NiMo did not incur any cleanup costs with respect to Area 3, however, NiMo  in complying with the Consent Order  incurred costs to cleanup Areas 1, 2, and 4. NiMo cleaned up a variety of materials, some of which contained petroleum and petroleum products. There is a genuine issue of material fact as to the liability of the remaining defendants for contribution with regard to costs incurred by NiMo to cleanup and remove unlawfully discharged petroleum.