The NAM, Allied Waste Industries, Inc. and the National Solid Wastes Management Association filed an amicus brief 2/7/03 urging the court to reverse a district court ruling that holds an innocent business asset purchaser liable under CERCLA as a “successor” for Superfund damages caused by the selling company. Brief. (CERCLA is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, which governs the clean-up of Superfund sites.)On 12/17/03, the court ruled, as most other federal courts have, that CERCLA does not include the "substantial continuity" doctrine. Courts must look to traditional common law rules of successor liability, instead of more liberal rules designed to expand the net of CERCLA liability. The court agreed that imposing an onerous "substantial continuity" standard would deter economically beneficial transactions and impose unpredictable liability of purchasers, depressing the price they would be willing to pay for a company's assets.
This is a big win for NSI and other companies that want to buy the assets of other companies without assuming unknown Superfund liabilities. The case was sent back to the trial court for further proceedings, but the ruling overturned a judgment of $12,449,479.51 against NSI.