United States v. Sterling Centrecorp Inc.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Both the United States and the California Department of Toxic Substances (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Plaintiffs” or “government” unless otherwise *1153 specified) have designated the former Lava Cap Mine, located in Nevada County, California, as a Superfund site polluted by elevated levels of arsenic that were disseminated through tailings and waste materials generated by mine operations. Plaintiffs have undertaken cleanup efforts designed to remediate that arsenic contamination. The present action, filed pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. § 9601 , et seq. (“CERCLA”), seeks contribution for the costs of those activities both from former owners of the site and operators responsible for its mining. After bifurcating the case between liability and damages, a bench trial as to the liability of Defendant Sterling Centrecorp Inc. (“Sterling”) was held over four days between October 31, 2012, and November 7, 2012. Those proceedings resulted in Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law filed June 20, 2013, and June 24, 2013, that found Sterling liable for all proper removal and remedial…