{"ID":63138,"name":"Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian, et al.","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2019\/17-1498","view_count":0,"docket_number":"17-1498","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Atlantic Ritchfield Company","second_party":"Gregory A. Christian, et al.","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1560142800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54525"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1575352800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54618"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[1587358800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/54690"}],"lower_court":{"ID":47,"name":"Montana Supreme Court","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/47"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EThis case arises from Montana\u2019s Anaconda Smelter site\u2014the location of a large copper concentrating and smelting operation that started in 1884 and expanded to other nearby areas in 1902. In 1977, Atlantic Richfield purchased Anaconda Smelter, and it shut down smelter activities in 1980. The smelter operations over the almost-century of operations caused high concentrations of arsenic, lead, copper, cadmium, and zinc to contaminate soil, groundwater, and surface water. In 1983, the EPA prioritized the Anaconda Smelter site as a Superfund site, working with Atlantic Richfield to address the contamination. Since then, Atlantic Richfield has worked with the EPA for 35 years to remediate the site, at a cost of approximately $470 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2008, landowners within the Anaconda Superfund site sued Atlantic Richfield in Montana state court, alleging that the smelter operations between 1884 and 1980 had caused damage to their properties. Atlantic Richfield raised no objections to the plaintiffs\u2019 claims of loss of use and enjoyment of property, diminution of value, incidental and consequential damages, and annoyance and discomfort. However, it did object to the common-law claim for \u201crestoration\u201d damages.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo establish a claim for restoration damages in Montana, plaintiffs must prove that they will actually use the award to clean up the site. The plaintiffs in this case alleged that restoration of their property requires \u201cwork in excess of what the EPA required of Atlantic Richfield in its selected remedy.\u201d Atlantic Richfield moved for summary judgment, arguing that the restoration claim constituted a \u201cchallenge\u201d to the EPA\u2019s remedy and thus was jurisdictionally barred by CERCLA \u00a7 113, which deprives courts of jurisdiction to hear challenges to EPA-selected remedies. Atlantic Richfield also argued that the landowners are \u201cpotentially responsible parties\u201d and thus must seek EPA approval under 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 9622(e)(6) of CERCLA before engaging in remedial action. Finally, Atlantic Richfield argued that CERCLA preempted state common-law claims for restoration.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe trial court held that CERCLA permitted plaintiffs\u2019 claim for restoration damages, and Atlantic Richfield sought a writ of supervisory control from the Montana Supreme Court, which the court granted. Over a dissent, the Supreme Court of Montana rejected all three of Atlantic Richfield\u2019s arguments, affirming the trial court\u2019s decision permitting the plaintiffs to proceed to a jury trial on their restoration claim.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIs a common-law claim for restoration seeking cleanup remedies that conflict with remedies the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered a jurisdictionally barred \u201cchallenge\u201d to the EPA\u2019s cleanup under 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 9613 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)?\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIs a landowner at a Superfund site a \u201cpotentially responsible party\u201d that must seek EPA approval under 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 9622(e)(6) of CERCLA before engaging in remedial action?\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EDoes CERCLA preempt state common-law claims for restoration that seek cleanup remedies that conflict with EPA-ordered remedies?\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not strip the Montana courts of jurisdiction over the landowners\u2019 claim for restoration, and the Montana Supreme Court erred in holding that the landowners in this case were not potentially responsible parties under CERCLA and thus did not need the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s approval to take remedial action.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChief Justice Roberts delivered the majority opinion.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Part II-A, the Court unanimously held that it had jurisdiction to review the decision of the Montana Supreme Court. The Court has jurisdiction to review final judgments, and a state court judgment is a \u201cfinal judgment if it is \u201can effective determination of the litigation and not of merely interlocutory or intermediate steps therein.\u201d Because under Montana law, a supervisory writ proceeding is a self-contained case, not an interlocutory appeal, it was a final judgment subject to review.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Part II-B, the Chief Justice, writing for the 8-1 majority, found that the Act does not strip the Montana courts of jurisdiction over this lawsuit. While \u00a7 113(b) of CERCLA provides that \u201cthe United States district courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all controversies arising under this chapter,\u201d thereby depriving state courts of jurisdiction over such actions, the landowners\u2019 common law nuisance, trespass, and strict liability claims arise under Montana law, not under the Act. Justice Samuel Alito dissented from this part of the opinion, writing in his separate opinion that the issue of whether state courts have jurisdiction to entertain challenges to EPA-approved CERCLA plans was \u201cneither necessary nor prudent\u201d to decide in this case.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Part III, the Chief Justice, writing for the 7-2 majority, held that the Montana Supreme Court erred by holding that the landowners were not potentially responsible parties under the Act and therefore did not need EPA approval to take remedial action. To determine who is\u00a0a potentially responsible party, the Court found that the Act includes as \u201ccovered persons\u201d any \u201cowner\u201d of \u201ca facility,\u201d and that a \u201cfacility\u201d includes \u201cany site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located.\u201d Under this definition, the landowners are \u201cpotentially responsible parties,\u201d and this reading is consistent with the Act\u2019s objective \u201cto develop a \u2018Comprehensive Environmental Response\u2019 to hazardous waste pollution.\u201d Justice Neil Gorsuch (joined by Justice Clarence Thomas) dissented from this part of the opinion, arguing that the majority\u2019s holding departs from CERCLA\u2019s terms in a way that transforms the Act \u201cfrom a law that supplements state environmental restoration efforts into one that prohibits them.\u201d Justice Gorsuch expressed concern that the Court\u2019s reading \u201cstrips away ancient common law rights from innocent landowners and forces them to suffer toxic waste in their backyards, playgrounds, and farms.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":34185,"name":"Lisa S. 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