Department of Environmental Quality Oregon v. Spar Investment Co.

MEMORANDUM *

The Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Oregon (“DEQ”) appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment to various owners and operators of a dry cleaning business located in MilwauMe, Oregon. Because the relevant facts are known to the parties they are not repeated here.

Departing from a baseline of strict liability, see Or.Rev.Stat. § 465.255, the Oregon legislature in 1995 implemented a separate and distinct liability scheme for the dry cleaning industry:

Or.Rev.Stat. § 465.503(1).

This broad grant of immunity, however, is inapplicable if “[t]he release resulted from a violation of federal or state laws in effect at the time of the release, including but not limited to waste minimization requirements imposed under ORS 465.505.” Or.Rev.Stat. § 465.503(3)(b). Notwithstanding this statutory language and the owners’ and operators’ long history of improperly disposing perchloroethylene (“PCE”) directly into the ground, the district court determined that § 465.503(3)(b) was ambiguous, and resorted to legislative history in concluding that “only dry cleaning owners and operators who do not comply with environmental laws after June 30, 1995…