Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. v. East Bay Regional Park District

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND JUDGMENT

The focus of this action is Oyster Bay Regional Park which comprises 194 acres of property fronting the San Francisco Bay in San Leandro, California. Originally used as a municipal landfill for 38 years, the site was covered and transferred to the East Bay Regional Park District (“Park District”) for development into a shoreline park. Thereafter, the property became contaminated with leachate, a hazardous waste that develops when water interacts with waste. The amount of leachate at the landfill has, and will continue to, require substantial remedial efforts, which to date, have been largely borne by plaintiff, Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. (“WMAC”), the prior owner of the site.

In 1998, WMAC brought this action against the Park District for contribution and declaratory relief pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERC-LA”), as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9607 , 9613, the analogous California Hazardous Substance Account Act (“HSAA”), Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 25300 et seq., and the Declaratory Relief Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 , 2202. The complaint also asserted a variety of…