Saturday, May 4, 2013

O'Neil v. Picillo case brief

O'Neil v. Picillo case brief
883 F.2d 176 (1st Cir. 1989)

CASE SYNOPSIS: Appellant waste generators challenged the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, which held them jointly and severally liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C.S. § 9601 et seq., for clean-up costs incurred as a result of hazardous waste dumping.

FACTS: Appellee state brought an action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C.S. § 9601 et seq., to recover clean-up costs from several waste generators. The clean-up costs were incurred as a result of cleaning up hazardous waste dumping by the waste generators. Several of the parties settled the action, and the district court held that the remaining two waste generators were jointly and severally liable for the remaining costs. The two waste generators appealed the judgment of the district court, alleging that their contribution to the disaster was insubstantial and that it was unfair to hold them liable for all of the state's past expenses not covered by the settlements. The judgment of the district court was affirmed, and the court held that the district court did not err in holding the waste generators liable for the state's removal costs because most of the waste could not be identified, and the waste generators had the burden of accounting for the uncertainty.

CONCLUSION: The judgment of the district court holding two waste generators jointly and severally liable for hazardous waste clean-up costs was affirmed. The court held that the waste generators failed to meet their burden of proving for what amount of waste they were responsible.

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