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California Department of Toxic Substances Control v. Hearthside Residential Corp.

613 F.3d 910 (2010)

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California Department of Toxic Substances Control v. Hearthside Residential Corp.

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
613 F.3d 910 (2010)

  • Written by Liz Nakamura, JD

Facts

Hearthside Residential Corporation (plaintiff) purchased a tract of wetlands contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and agreed to remediate the PCB contamination. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (department) (defendant) found that PCBs from Hearthside’s wetlands tract had contaminated the residential area adjacent to the wetlands tract. After Hearthside denied responsibility for cleaning the residential site, the department handled the cleanup and then filed a cost-recovery action against Hearthside as the current owner of the PCB contamination source at the time of cleanup. After remediating the PCB contamination at the wetlands tract, but before the department filed its cost-recovery suit, Hearthside sold the wetlands tract. Hearthside countered, arguing it was not liable for the cleanup of the residential area because it was not the owner of the wetlands tract at the time the cost-recovery suit was filed. Hearthside further argued that defining current ownership based on the date of cleanup would require burdensome fact-finding. The district court ruled for the department, and Hearthside appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Gould, J.)

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