NCR Corp. v. George A. Whiting Paper Co.

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Environmental Law
Citation
Case Number: 
Nos. 13-2447 et al. Cons.
Decision Date: 
September 25, 2014
Federal District: 
E.D. Wisc.
Holding: 
Affirmed, reversed and vacated in party and remanded
In action by plaintiff (manufacturer of carbonless copy paper that produced PCBs that were discharged into Lower Fox River) seeking contribution for cleanup costs from defendants-paper mills, which also discharged PCBs into said river, Dist. Ct. erred in finding that plaintiff was not entitled to any equitable contribution from defendants, after holding that plaintiff had sufficient knowledge of harmful effect of PCBs when it discharged them into river, where: (1) plaintiff presented some evidence that it subjectively did not believe that PCBs posed environmental risk at time of discharge; and (2) Dist. Ct. erred in pre-selecting knowledge factor to resolve said issue and preventing plaintiff from developing evidence of other potentially relevant factors. Ct. further found that plaintiff could only proceed under section 113(f) of CERCLA instead of section 107 of said Act.