United States v. Monsanto Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
858 F.2d 160 (1988)
Site owners Oscar Seidenberg and Harvey Hutchinson (defendants) leased property to a company whose successor, South Carolina Recycling and Disposal Inc. (SCRDI) (defendant), haphazardly stored hazardous waste in corroded, chemically incompatible drums on the site, resulting in a 1977 toxic cloud that hospitalized 12 firemen and a 1979 explosion and fire that a site manager could not even identify the source chemicals for. The United States sued SCRDI, the site owners, and waste-generating companies Allied Corporation, Monsanto Company, and EM Industries (defendants) under CERCLA Section 107(a), seeking joint and several liability for the response costs; the defendants argued their conduct did not cause the damage and that CERCLA's liability scheme was unconstitutionally retroactive. The district court found all defendants strictly, jointly, and severally liable and rejected the retroactivity challenge, and the defendants appealed.
Whether the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act imposes a strict liability scheme on site owners and waste generators for the response costs of the release of hazardous waste and permits imposition of joint and several liability in cases of indivisible harm.