Valbruna Slater Steel Corp. v. Joslyn Manufacturing Co.

Dist. Ct. did not err in apportioning past and future environmental cleanup costs between plaintiff-purchaser of property and defendant-prior owner of said property, where defendant would pay 75 percent and plaintiff 25 percent of said costs in instant action under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). While plaintiff argued that typical apportionment for no-fault owner is 10 percent, record showed that instant cleanup costs totaled more than $2 million, and Dist. Ct. did not abuse its discretion in apportioning plaintiff 25 percent of said costs, where plaintiff paid far less than asking price for said property and far less than $80 million that plaintiff had insured said property. Dist. Ct. also properly reduced plaintiff’s recovery by $500,000, where plaintiff had committed itself for at least $500,000 in cleanup costs prior to purchasing said property, and where plaintiff’s retention of $500,000 would have amounted to double recovery, since plaintiff’s purchase price would have reflected said costs. Ct. also rejected defendant’s claim that prior lawsuit between defendant and third-party seeking cleanup costs under state law precluded instant CERCLA action, since parties in prior lawsuit could not bring CERCLA action in state court.