United States v. P.H. Glatfelter Co.

From the mid-1950s through the 1970s, several paper mills discharged wastewater containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Lower Fox River. The Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund Site (the Superfund Site) in northern Wisconsin was subject to massive remedial efforts conducted according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The Superfund Site was divided into five geographical sections, operable units (OU) 1 through 5. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed several potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to clean up a portion of the site. P.H. Glatfelter Company (Glatfelter) (defendant) was a PRP as the corporate successor to Bergstrom Paper Company, which operated a paper-recycling mill and discharged PCB-contaminated wastewater into Little Lake Butte des Morts at OU1. The United States brought suit in district court to require the PRPs to comply with the EPA’s order. Glatfelter moved for summary judgment, arguing that the government was required to prove that PCB discharges from the Bergstrom Mill made their way into OU4 in sufficient quantities to cause the incurrence of response costs. The district court held that there did not need to be a nexus between a defendant’s release and a specific response cost; it was enough that a defendant released a pollutant and that response costs were incurred to clean up a release. The district court denied Glatfelter’s motion for summary judgment and held Glatfelter liable for downstream response costs at OU4. Glatfelter appealed, arguing that the district court improperly relieved the government of its burden of proof on causation.