RACER TRUST v. NATIONAL GRID USA

No. 22-1589-cv August Term, 2022.

92 F.4th 415 (2024)

REVITALIZING AUTO COMMUNITIES ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE TRUST, Racer Properties LLC, Eplet, LLC, not individually but solely in its representative capacity as administrative Trustee of Revitalizing Auto Communities Response Trust, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NATIONAL GRID USA, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, Carrier Corporation, United Technologies Corporation, Carlyle Air Conditioning Company, Inc., General Electric Company, fka General Electric Corporation, BristolMeyers Squibb Company, Magna Powertrain USA, Inc., Solvents and Petroleum Service, Inc., Thompson Corners, LLC, Metalico Syracuse Realty, Inc., Metalico New York, Inc., Gardner Denver, Inc., ONX1 LLC, Onondaga Pottery Company, Inc., Amparit Industries, LLC, 6181 Thompson Road, LLC, Carrier Circle Business Complex LLC, Telesector Resources Group, Inc, Western Electric Company, Incorporated, Syracuse Lepage LLC, Lennox Industries Inc., Syracuse Deere Road Associates, LLC, Jagar Enterprises, Inc., Calocerinos and Spina, C & S Engineers, Inc., B&B Family Limited Partnership, Hauler's Facility LLC, 6223 Thompson Road Suite 1000 Syracuse, NY 13206, Honeywell International Inc., 80 State Street Albany, NY 122072543, Lockheed Martin Corporation, 6801 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817, New Process Gear, Inc., 6600 New Venture Gear Drive East Syracuse, NY 13507, Nokia of America Corporation, 600 Mountain Avenue Murray Hill, NJ 07974, North Midler Properties LLC, 6041 Sewickley Drive Jamesville, NY 13078, Northeast Management Services, Inc., c/o Florine Basile, Jr., President P.O. Box 1238 Cicero, NY 13039, Northern Industrial Holdings, LLC, 1675 South State Street Suite B Dover, DE 19901, Thompson Lawn, LLC, 7050 Cedarbay Road Fayetteville, NY 13066, Thompson NW, LLC, 7050 Cedarbay Road Fayetteville, NY 13066, Center Circles LLC, Chrysler Group LLC, Aleris Partners LLC, Cooper Crouse-Hinds, LLC, Prestolite Electric Incorporated, aka New Prestolite, fka PEI 1991 Acquisition, Inc., Fulton Iron & Steel Co. Inc., Deere & Company, Old Carco Liquidation Trust, By Its Trustee RJM I, LLC 251 Little Falls Drive Wilmington, DE 19808, Old Carco LLC, 555 Chrysler Drive Auburn Hills, MI 48236, fka Chrysler LLC, United States Hoffman Machinery Corporation, 105 Fourth Avenue New York, NY 10003, Defendants-Appellees, Libbey Glass Inc., Burko Corporation, Empire Pipeline Corporation, Old Electric, Inc., fka Old Prestolite, fka Prestolite Electric Incorporated, New Process Gear Corporation, Syracuse China Company, John Does, Defendants.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Decided: February 5, 2024.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Jeffrey D. Talbert ( Laura E. Jensen , on the brief), Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, LLP, Portland, ME, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Alan J. Knauf , Linda R. Shaw , Amy K. Kendall , Jonathan R. Tantillo , Knauf Shaw LLP, Rochester, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Robert A. Wiygul ( Steven T. Miano , Peter V. Keays , on the brief), Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, Philadelphia, PA, for Defendant-Appellee Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Dean S. Sommer , Kristin Carter Rowe , Young/Sommer LLC, Albany, NY, for Defendant-Appellee General Electric Company.

Douglas H. Zamelis , The Law Office of Douglas H. Zamelis, Cooperstown, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Northeast Management Services, Inc.

Gregory M. Brown , Fogel & Brown, P.C., Syracuse, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Syracuse Deere Road Associates, LLC and Hauler's Facility LLC.

Yvonne E. Hennessey , Barclay Damon LLP, Albany, NY, for Defendants-Appellees National Grid USA and Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation.

Philip H. Gitlen , Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, Albany, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Verizon New York Inc. as successor to Telesector Resources Group, Inc.

Geoffrey Michael , Lauren C. Daniel , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendant-Appellee Honeywell International Inc.

Michael A. Fogel , Fogel & Brown, P.C., Syracuse, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Carrier Circle Business Complex LLC, North Midler Properties, LLC, and Syracuse LePage LLC.

Patrick D. Donnelly , McGivney, Kluger Clark & Intoccia, P.C., Syracuse, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Carrier Circle Business Complex LLC, North Midler Properties, LLC, Syracuse LePage LLC, Syracuse Deere Road Associates, LLC, Hauler's Facility LLC.

Lori E. Petrone , Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak, LLP, Buffalo, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Amparit Industries, LLC.

Joseph R. Talarico, II , Talarico Law Firm, Fayetteville, NY, for Defendant-Appellee B&B Family Limited Partnership.

Linda E. Alario , Syracuse, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Jagar Enterprises, Inc.

John J. Kuster , Sidney Austin LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Magna Powertrain USA, Inc., and New Process Gear, Inc.

Andrew C. Rose , Nixon Peabody LLP, Albany, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Onondaga Pottery Company, Inc.

Albert J. Millus, Jr. , Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP, Binghamton, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Metalico New York, Inc. and Metalico Syracuse Realty, Inc.

Paul D. Sylvestri , Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, Rochester NY, for Defendants-Appellees C&S Engineers, Inc. and Calocerinos and Spina.

Elizabeth C. Barton , Erick M. Sandler , Day Pitney LLP, Hartford, CT, for Defendants-Appellees Carrier Corporation, Carlyle Air Conditioning Company Inc., and Raytheon Technologies Corporation f/k/a United Technologies Corporation.

Glen R. Stuart , Adina D. Bingham , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, PA, and Bernard J. Garbutt, III , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company.

Meaghan G. Boyd , Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta, GA, and David Venderbush , Alston & Bird LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants-Appellees Nokia of America Corporation and Western Electric Company, Incorporated.

Daniel T. Flaherty , Daniel C.W. Narvey , Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., Milwaukee, WI, for Defendant-Appellee Gardner Denver, Inc.

John T. Kolaga , Rupp Pfalzgraf LLC, Buffalo, NY, for Defendants-Appellees 6181 Thompson Road LLC, Thompson Corners, LLC, Thompson Lawn, LLC, and Thompson NW, LLC.

Melody D. Westfall , Westfall Law PLLC, Syracuse, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Northern Industrial Holdings, LLC.

Donald W. O'Brien, Jr. , Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP, Rochester, NY, for Defendant-Appellee ONX1 LLC.

Charles T. Wehland , Jones Day, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee Lennox Industries.

Before: Calabresi, Lynch, and Robinson, Circuit Judges.


Between the 1950s and 1993, General Motors Company (now General Motors) ("GM") operated the Inland Fisher Guide plant ("IFG Plant" or "the Plant") in the Onondaga Lake region near Syracuse, New York. The Plant was the site of car manufacturing work that caused chemical pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls ("PCBs...

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