Emeryville v. Elementis Pigments, Inc.

2001 WL 964230, 52 ERC 1648 (2001)

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Emeryville v. Elementis Pigments, Inc.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California
2001 WL 964230, 52 ERC 1648 (2001)

  • Written by Tanya Munson, JD

Facts

From the 1920s to 1990, Elementis Pigments, Incorporated and Pfizer, Incorporated (collectively EPI) (defendants), and other businesses conducted operations on 15 acres of property north of Emeryville (the property). The operations of EPI and the others contaminated soil and groundwater at the property with heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and numerous other toxins. In 1995, the City of Emeryville (the city) (plaintiff) began negotiating with owners of the property to purchase their parcels. The city conducted a contamination investigation of the site. By 1999, the city had purchased two parcels of the property from separate businesses and began undertaking remediation efforts. In January 1999, after the city unsuccessfully negotiated with EPI to purchase EPI’s parcel of property, the city was granted authorization from a state court to take EPI’s property by eminent domain. In August 1999, the city filed suit against EPI and the other businesses, seeking relief under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and state law for cleanup costs associated with the remediation of the property. The city and the other businesses entered into settlement agreements. EPI counterclaimed against the city for contribution and filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that the city did not exercise its eminent-domain authority when it purchased the two parcels from the other businesses and therefore cannot assert the innocent-landowner defense. The city filed a motion for summary judgment on EPI’s counterclaims.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Alsup, J.)

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