United States v. Vertac Chemical Corp.
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
79 F.Supp.2d 1034 (1999)
The EPA (plaintiffs) sued Hercules, Vertac, Uniroyal, and others (defendants) under CERCLA to recover cleanup costs for a heavily contaminated 93-acre site where Hercules had manufactured herbicides, including Agent Orange, from 1961 to 1976 before leasing the site to what became Vertac. After a jury found Hercules and Uniroyal jointly and severally liable for $90 million in cleanup costs, the court had to determine how to allocate that liability between them, with Uniroyal claiming only about 1.6% responsibility and Hercules seeking to cap its own share at 30%.
Whether allocation of CERCLA cleanup costs among jointly and severally liable parties may be based on the volume of waste each party is responsible for, along with other factors the court deems appropriate.