New York v. Shore Realty Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
759 F.2d 1032 (1985)
Shore Realty Corporation and its principal, Donald LeoGrande (defendants), bought land for a condominium project knowing the prior owner had stored over 700,000 gallons of toxic, carcinogenic waste in underground tanks there and that chemicals were already leaching into groundwater and surrounding waters. New York (plaintiff) sued in federal court under CERCLA for injunctive relief and cleanup costs, and the district court held the defendants liable even though they neither caused the original contamination nor owned the site during the disposal; they appealed.
Whether CERCLA imposes strict liability for hazardous-waste cleanup costs on the current owner of a contaminated facility, even where that owner did not cause the original release and purchased the property after disposal had already occurred.