Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection v. Trainer Custom Chemical, LLC
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
906 F.3d 85 (2018)
- Written by Robert Cane, JD
Facts
Trainer Custom Chemical, LLC (Trainer) (defendant) acquired a property that had been heavily polluted and subject to significant environmental cleanup costs. Before Trainer acquired the property, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (the department) (plaintiff) had already incurred over $800,000 in cleanup costs. After Trainer’s acquisition, the property still required additional cleanup. The department sued Trainer for violations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), seeking recovery of all cleanup costs incurred regardless of when the costs were incurred. During the summary-judgment phase of the litigation, the district court found that Trainer was liable only for cleanup costs incurred after Trainer acquired the property. The department filed an interlocutory appeal.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Jordan, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
