Asarco

Plaintiff-Appellant ASARCO, LLC (“ASARCO”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellee CNA Holdings, LLC (“CNA”) in ASARCO’s suit for contribution under § 113(f)(3)(B) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. § 9613 (f)(3)(B). The district court ruled that ASARCO’s contribution action was time-barred and dismissed the complaint. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

ASARCO is the corporate successor to a company that owned and operated a silver and lead smelter on a 66-acre industrial site (the “Selby Site”) on San Pablo Bay in Contra Costa, California. The smelter operated until 1970, depositing smelting byproducts on its property and the tideland ASARCO leased from the California State Lands Commission (“State Lands”) abutting the property. The smelter was closed after it was named as the likely source of lead pollution that caused livestock deaths nearby. After the smelter closed, ASAR-CO leased a 1.33 acre parcel of the Selby Site containing a sulfur dioxide plant (“Plant”) that ASARCO had previously…