Acushnet v. Cornell-Dubilier
Case Date: 09/20/1999
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 97-2138
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For the First Circuit No. 97-2138 ACUSHNET COMPANY, AMTEL INCORPORATED, AVX CORPORATION, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC., BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE, INC., CHAMBERLAIN MANUFACTURING CORP., COMMONWEALTH ELECTRICAL COMPANY, COMMONWEALTH GAS COMPANY, EMHART INDUSTRIES, INC., GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO., PARAMOUNT COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, TELEDYNE RODNEY METALS A DIVISION OF TELEDYNE INDUSTRIES INCORPORATED, AND UNITED DOMINION INDUSTRIES, INC., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. MOHASCO CORPORATION, MONOGRAM INDUSTRIES INC. D/B/A AMERICAN FLEXIBLE CONDUIT, NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH COMPANY, NORTEK, INC., AND OTTAWAY NEWSPAPERS, INC., Defendants, Appellees. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. Robert E. Keeton, U.S. District Judge] Before Bownes and Cyr, Senior Circuit Judges, and O'Toole*, District Judge. Stephen J. Brake, with whom David L. Ferrera and Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP were on brief, for appellants. Gerald J. Petros, with whom Charles D. Blackman and Hinckley, Allen & Snyder were on brief, for Monogram Industries and Nortek, Inc., d/b/a American Flexible Conduit, appellees. George W. House, with whom V. Randall Tinsley and Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, L.L.P. were on brief, for Mohasco Corporation, appellee. Deming E. Sherman, with whom Edwards & Angell, LLP, were on brief, for Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., appellee. Seth D. Jaffe, with whom Robert S. Sanoff, Jeffrey L. Roelofs, and Foley, Hoag & Eliot, LLP were on brief, for New England Telephone & Telegraph Company, appellee. September 15, 1999 ______________________ *Of the District of Massachusetts, sitting by designation. BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge. This appeal stems from the contamination and subsequent clean up of an area popularly known as Sullivan's Ledge, located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Plaintiffs-appellants, collectively known as the Sullivan's Ledge Group, are thirteen corporations which received notices from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") advising that the government considered them responsible for the pollution of Sullivan's Ledge under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"). In the early 1990's, the group entered into consent decrees with EPA in which it agreed to perform remediation at the site. Invoking |