2. Issue of the case: Burlington N. & S. F. R. Co. v. United States

In 1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 94 Stat. 2767, as amended, 42 U. S. C. §§9601–9675, in response to the serious environmental and health risks posed by industrial pollution. See United States v. Bestfoods, 524 U. S. 51, 55 (1998) . The Act was designed to promote the “ ‘timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites’ ” and to ensure that the costs of such cleanup efforts were borne by those responsible for the contamination. Consolidated Edison Co. of N. Y. v. UGI Util., Inc., 423 F. 3d 90, 94 (CA2 2005); see also Meghrig v. KFC Western, Inc., 516 U. S. 479, 483 (1996) ; Dedham Water Co. v. Cumberland Farms Dairy, Inc., 805 F. 2d 1074, 1081 (CA1 1986). These cases raise the questions whether and to what extent a party associated with a contaminated site may be held responsible for the full costs of remediation. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-1601.ZO.html. The railroads companies, as well as Shell Oil Corp. have taken this case to court and are trying to prevent millions of dollars to be forced to be paid to the government. During its years of operation, B&B stored and distributed various hazardous chemicals on its property. Among these were the herbicide dinoseb, sold by Dow Chemicals, and the pesticides D–D and Nemagon, both sold by Shell. Dinoseb was stored in 55-gallon drums and 5-gallon containers on a concrete slab outside B&B’s warehouse. Nemagon was stored in 30-gallon drums and 5-gallon containers inside the warehouse. Originally, B&B purchased D–D in 55-gallon drums; beginning in the mid-1960’s, however, Shell began requiring its distributors to maintain bulk storage facilities for D–D. From that time onward, B&B purchased D–D in bulk.1 http://www4.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-1601.ZO.html. The EPA feels that even though Shell Oil Corp. had required B&B to purchase bulk holding containers to cut down on the amount of toxic chemicals that were accidentally, spills continued to happen throughout the years. Since B&B is now an insolvent company, the responsibility now falls squarely on the shoulders of Shell Oil Corp. who were the providers of the toxic chemicals.