Opinion ID: 4523175
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Foote Mineral Company (“Foote Mineral”) acquired the subject property (“Foot Mineral Superfund Site”) 2 in 1941. Whiteland Holdings, 141 Fed. Cl. at 705. The United States Government thereafter purchased the Foot Mineral 1 Any claim against the United States filed in the Court of Federal Claims must be “filed within six years after such claim first accrues.” 28 U.S.C. § 2501. 2 The subject property is located at 15 South Bacton Hill Road in Frazer, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and is situated primarily in East Whiteland Township. On October 14, 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency added the subject property to the General Superfund Section of the National Priorities List. National Priorities List for Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste Sites, 57 Fed. Reg. at 47,183–84. The subject property then became known as the “Foote Mineral Superfund Site.” Case: 19-2143 Document: 36 Page: 3 Filed: 04/07/2020 FRAZER/EXTON DEVELOPMENT, L.P. v. UNITED STATES 3 Superfund Site in 1942 and engaged Foote Mineral to conduct lithium chemical processing operations for the Government during World War II. Id. The Government also utilized the Foot Mineral Superfund Site for the production of various lithium and munition products as well as the stockpiling and storage of exotic ores. Id. Foote Mineral reacquired the property in July 1946, after the conclusion of World War II. Id. The Government, however, continued to operate the site into the 1950s, engaging Foote Mineral to produce and manufacture lithium halides and lithium metal products, both in liquid and solid form, to ground a variety of minerals and alloys, to produce inorganic fluxes for the steel industry, and to store various exotic ores for ammunition production and other potential uses as part of the wartime effort. Id. Unsurprisingly, site operations “created large quantities of hazardous substances.” United States v. Frazer Exton Dev. LP, No. 07-2666, 2008 WL 2876570, at  (E.D. Pa. July 24, 2008). Those hazardous substances “were disposed of in limestone quarries” on the subject property, resulting in the contamination of “soil on the Site and the ground water beneath the Site,” and “causing a plume of contamination that extends approximately two miles east” of the subject property. Id. Foote Mineral ceased its disposal practices in or around 1975 and “engaged in cleanup and monitoring efforts” throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Id. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) “became involved in remediation efforts in 1988.” Id. On June 29, 1990, the EPA and Foote Mineral entered into a consent order that required Foote Mineral to “conduct a groundwater survey, institute a five-year monitoring program of private drinking water supplies, and provide an alternative drinking water source to affected residents.” Id. Foote Mineral discontinued site operations in 1991. Id. Case: 19-2143 Document: 36 Page: 4 Filed: 04/07/2020 4 FRAZER/EXTON DEVELOPMENT, L.P. v. UNITED STATES In September 1996, the EPA, pursuant to a second consent order, required Foote Mineral to “conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study.” Id. On November 20, 1998, however, Frazer/Exton acquired the Foote Mineral Superfund Site. Frazer/Exton did so with “full knowledge of the existing contamination of the Site.” Id. In its purchase agreement, Frazer/Exton agreed to assume liabilities, obligations, and/or responsibilities arising under any applicable environmental law for environmental conditions including, among others, those arising in connection with consent orders. In accordance therewith, Frazer/Exton completed a Remedial Investigation Report and a Feasibility Study Report, pursuant to the 1996 consent order, in June 2001. On August 11, 2003, the EPA held a public hearing regarding its proposed plan for the Foote Mineral Superfund Site. Frazer/Exton’s president was at that public hearing, acknowledged that Frazer/Exton owned the site, and stated that (1) Frazer/Exton was “wholly supportive of the [EPA’s] proposed remedy and the proposed plan” and (2) the company “look[ed] forward to an expeditious negotiation of the implementation of the remedy with the EPA.” Whiteland Holdings, 141 Fed. Cl. at 707 (citations omitted). The EPA issued a Record of Decision—selecting a permanent remedy for the Foote Mineral Superfund Site—on March 31, 2006, and notified Foote Mineral and Frazer/Exton “of their potential liability to remedy the site” pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”). Frazer Exton, 2008 WL 2876570, at . Frazer/Exton “volunteered to perform the work required by the [Record of Decision]” on July 21, 2006. Id. Frazer/Exton and the EPA then entered into a proposed consent order “for the purpose of commencing the design phase of the remedial action contemplated by the [Record of Decision]” that provided for Frazer/Exton to “pay for and perform the remedial action Case: 19-2143 Document: 36 Page: 5 Filed: 04/07/2020 FRAZER/EXTON DEVELOPMENT, L.P. v. UNITED STATES 5 that was selected by the EPA in the [Record of Decision].” Id. at –2. While conducting the remediation work, Frazer/Exton “learned that the volume of contaminated soil [was] larger than was estimated in the [Record of Decision].” Id. at . On April 7, 2008—after a thirty-day public comment period and an EPA public availability session regarding the additional contamination—the EPA signed an Explanation of Significant Differences which amended the Record of Decision by expanding the area to be capped, revising clean-up standards for certain contaminants, and allowing the use of permeability barriers in certain circumstances. Id. On July 24, 2008, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved and entered the consent order, finding that it was “procedurally and substantively fair” and “reasonable and consistent with CERCLA’s goal of ensur[ing] the cleanup of the nation’s hazardous waste sites.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). On October 28, 2010, the EPA issued a Superfund Preliminary Close Out Report pertaining to the Foote Mineral Superfund Site. According to Frazer/Exton, it “completed the investigation, removal, and/or remediation of the Site in 2011.” Whiteland Holdings, 141 Fed. Cl. at 708 (citations omitted). Whiteland acquired the subject property via sheriff’s sale on November 17, 2016. On September 11, 2017, pursuant to Pennsylvania law, Whiteland executed an environmental covenant (the “Pennsylvania Environmental Covenant” or “PEC”) in favor of Frazer/Exton, which effectuated the land use restrictions that were present in the July 25, 2008 consent order. The EPA approved the PEC nine days later.