Ameripride Services Inc. v. Texas Eastern Overseas Inc.

This appeal requires us to determine whether the district court erred in calculating and allocating liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9607 (a) and 9613(f), in AmeriPride Services Inc.’s contribution action against Texas Eastern Overseas, Inc. (TEO). TEO challenges (1) the district court’s method of allocating liability among settling and nonsettling parties; (2) its determination that AmeriPride could recover costs that were not “necessary costs of response incurred ... consistent with the national contingency plan,” § 9607(a)(B); (3) its selection of the date prejudgment interest started accruing based on equitable factors, rather than on the accrual dates specified in § 9607(a); and (4) its assignment of TEO’s causes of action against its insurers to AmeriPride. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we vacate the district court’s judgment and remand for further proceedings.

I

We begin by reviewing the statutory framework applicable to this appeal. CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-9675 , is a statutory scheme giving the federal government broad authority to require…