Vine Street LLC v. Keeling
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Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Docket: 07-40440
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Opinion Date:
January 14, 2015
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Areas of Law: Environmental Law
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Borg Warner appealed the district court's determination that it
is liable to Vine Street for 75% of the costs associated with cleaning up a
plume of perchlorethylene (PERC) that discharged from a dry cleaning business
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9607(a)(3), and the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act
(TSWDA), Tex. Health & Safety Code 361.271(a)(3).
The liability was
associated with a former subsidiary of Borg Warner, Norge, which furnished dry
cleaning equipment, design assistance, and an initial supply of PERC to the
cleaning business. The court concluded that Borg Warner is entitled to judgment
in its favor on the CERCLA and TSWDA claims because Norge did not intentionaly
dispose of a waste product when it sold dry cleaning equipment and an initial
supply of PERC to the dry cleaning business.
The court noted that the Supreme
Court's decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United States
changed the relevant law while this case was on appeal. Therefore, the court
held that the district court's decision cannot stand in light of Burlington
Northern.