PNEUMO ABEX v. HIGH POINT THOMASVILLE & DENTON RAILROAD

Nos. 97-1593, 97-1594 and 97-1599.

142 F.3d 769 (1998)

PNEUMO ABEX CORPORATION; Whitman Corporation; City of Portsmouth, Virginia, a municipal corporation; Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. HIGH POINT, THOMASVILLE AND DENTON RAILROAD COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant, Norfolk Southern Railway Company; Norfolk & Western Railway Company, Defendants & Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellants, and CSX Corporation; Erie Lackawanna, Incorporated; Consolidated Rail Corporation; Greenlease Holding Company; Lake Terminal Rail Company; New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Company; USX Corporation; John C. Holland, Jr.; Cambria & Indiana Railroad Company; Florida East Coast Railway Company, Defendants, CSX Transportation, Incorporated; Florida East Coast Industries, Incorporated; Fruit Growers Express Company, Incorporated; Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company, Incorporated; Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Company, Incorporated; Union Railroad Company, Incorporated; Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company, Incorporated, Defendants & Third Party Plaintiffs, Kaufman & Canoles, P.C., Party in Interest, v. The RUNNYMEDE CORPORATION; Holland Investment and Manufacturing Company, Incorporated; American Premier Underwriters, Incorporated; Wimco; Wimco Metals, Incorporated; Wilmat Holdings, Incorporated; Triangle Industries, Incorporated; Illinois Central Railroad Company, Third Party Defendants. Virginia Manufacturers Association; American Automobile Manufacturers Association; Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Incorporated, Amici Curiae. PNEUMO ABEX CORPORATION; Whitman Corporation; City of Portsmouth, Virginia, a Municipal Corporation; Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CSX TRANSPORTATION, INCORPORATED; Fruit Growers Express Company, Incorporated, Defendants & Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellants, and CSX Corporation; Erie Lackawanna, Incorporated; Consolidated Rail Corporation; Greenlease Holding Company; High Point, Thomasville and Denton Railroad Company; Lake Terminal Rail Company; New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Company; USX Corporation; John C. Holland, Jr.; Cambria & Indiana Railroad Company; Florida East Coast Railway Company, Defendants, Florida East Coast Industries, Incorporated; Norfolk Southern Railway Company, Norfolk & Western Railway Company; Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company Incorporated; Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Company, Incorporated; Union Railroad Company, Incorporated; Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company, Incorporated, Defendants & Third Party Plaintiffs, Kaufman & Canoles, P.C., Party in Interest, v. THE RUNNYMEDE CORPORATION; Holland Investment and Manufacturing Company, Incorporated; American Premier Underwriters, Incorporated; Wimco; Wimco Metals, Incorporated; Wilmat Holdings, Incorporated; Triangle Industries, Incorporated; Illinois Central Railroad Company, Third Party Defendants. Virginia Manufacturers Association; American Automobile Manufacturers Association; Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Incorporated, Amici Curiae. PNEUMO ABEX CORPORATION; Whitman Corporation; City of Portsmouth, Virginia, a municipal corporation; Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. HIGH POINT, THOMASVILLE AND DENTON RAILROAD COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant, CSX Transportation, Incorporated; Fruit Growers Express Company, Incorporated; Norfolk Southern Railway Company; Norfolk & Western Railway Company, Defendants & Third Party Plaintiffs-Appellees, and CSX Corporation; Erie Lackawanna, Incorporated; Consolidated Rail Corporation; Greenlease Holding Company; Lake Terminal Rail Company; New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Company; USX Corporation; John C. Holland, Jr.; Cambria & Indiana Railroad Company; Florida East Coast Railway Company, Defendants, Florida East Coast Industries, Incorporated; Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company, Incorporated; Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Company, Incorporated; Union Railroad Company, Incorporated; Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company, Incorporated, Defendants & Third Party Plaintiffs, Kaufman & Canoles, P.C., Party in Interest, v. THE RUNNYMEDE CORPORATION; Holland Investment and Manufacturing Company, Incorporated; American Premier Underwriters, Incorporated; Wimco; Wimco Metals, Incorporated; Wilmat Holdings, Incorporated; Triangle Industries, Incorporated; Illinois Central Railroad Company, Third Party Defendants. Virginia Manufacturers Association; American Automobile Manufacturers Association; Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Incorporated, Amici Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided April 29, 1998.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Kevin Allan Gaynor, Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Appellants. Joseph Gerard Homsy, Zevnik, Horton, Guibord & McGovern, Chicago, IL, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: George C. Hopkins, S. Scott Gaille, Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P., Washington, DC; Joseph M. Spivey, III, Hunton & Williams, Richmond, VA, for Appellants. John W. Roberts, Sr., Lea D. Leadbeater, Zevnik, Horton, Guibord & McGovern, Chicago, IL; James A. Gorry, III, Taylor & Walker, P.C., Norfolk, VA, for Appellees. Channing J. Martin, Christopher D. Pomeroy, Williams, Mullen, Christian & Dobbins, Richmond, VA; Carol C. Wampler, Virginia Manufacturers Association, Richmond, VA; Julie C. Becker, American Automobile Manufacturers Association, Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae Associations. J. Thomas Wolfe, R. Michael Sweeney, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc., Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Institute.

Before LUTTIG, Circuit Judge, GOODWIN, United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation, and MICHAEL, Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, sitting by designation.


Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Senior Judge MICHAEL wrote the opinion, in which Judge LUTTIG and Judge GOODWIN joined.

OPINION

MICHAEL, District Judge:

Since the enactment in 1980 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), litigation over the cost of clean up of polluted sites has grown steadily. The courts have struggled to interpret and refine the enforcement and liability scheme laid out...

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