You are here: / / State Claims Re: Alleged Release of Toxins During Love Canal Clean-Up Not...
, ,

State Claims Re: Alleged Release of Toxins During Love Canal Clean-Up Not Precluded (Preempted) by Federal CERCLA Remedy

The Fourth Department determined state claims for negligence, abnormally dangerous activity, private nuisance and trespass were not precluded by a federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) remedy re: the Love Canal toxic contamination:

As the federal District Court explained, “it is uniformly recognized that, in enacting CERCLA, Congress expressly disclaimed an intent to preempt state tort liability for damages caused by the release of hazardous substances” … . District Court therefore granted plaintiffs’ motion seeking to remand the matter to Supreme Court, determining that “plaintiffs seek relief only under common law theories of negligence, . . . private nuisance, and trespass” … , “[and t]he claims . . . do not expressly challenge the effectiveness of the [CERCLA] remedy . . . Rather, plaintiffs seek only to be made whole for any harm proximately caused by defendants’ conduct, whether in performance of operation, maintenance, and monitoring obligations with respect to the remedy, or during the [sewer project]” … .

* * * The doctrine of judicial estoppel prohibits a party who has assumed a position in one legal proceeding, and prevailed on that position, from assuming a contrary position in another proceeding because the party’s interests have changed … . Here, however, we conclude that plaintiffs’ position was consistent in both the federal and state court matters inasmuch as they maintained that they did not challenge the CERCLA remedy, as the moving defendants alleged, but instead challenged defendants’ performance of their respective obligations in executing the CERCLA remedY. Abbo-Bradley v City of Niagara Falls, 2015 NY Slip Op 07145, 4th Dept 10-2-15

 

You might also like
No Assets Left to Distribute—Disposition of a Painting Which Was Part of the Estate and Had Been Donated to a Museum Could Be Protected by the Attorney General (Charged with Protecting the Donor’s Wishes)–No Need to Issue Letters of Administration to Petitioner to Ensure Proper Use of the Painting
PLAINTIFF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER’S PRIVATE NUISANCE, PUBLIC NUISANCE AND NEGLIGENCE CAUSES OF ACTION BASED UPON THE ALLEGED NOXIOUS ODORS FROM DEFENDANT’S LANDFILL SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FOURTH DEPT).
Relation Back Doctrine Allowed Adding Doctor as Defendant in Medical Malpractice Action after Expiration of Statute of Limitations.
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SKIER ASSUMED THE RISK OF STRIKING A SNOWMAKING MACHINE.
PLAINTIFF, WHO PURCHASED THE PROPERTY, SUED THE PRIOR OWNER IN NEGLIGENCE FOR DAMAGES STEMMING FROM PLAINTIFF’S EXPOSURE TO CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION ON THE PROPERTY; LIABILITY FOR A DANGEROUS CONDITION ON PROPERTY GENERALLY CEASES UPON TRANSFER OF THE PROPERTY; THE NEGLIGENCE CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FOURTH DEPT).
CERTAIN LABOR LAW 200, COMMON LAW NEGLIGENCE, AND LABOR LAW 241(6) CAUSES OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED; QUESTION OF FACT RE: WHETHER PLAINTIFF WAS THE SOLE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT IN THIS LADDER-FALL CASE; THE PROJECT COORDINATOR MET SEVERAL DEFINITIONS OF ‘OWNER’ WITHIN THE MEANING OF LABOR LAW 240(1), INCLUDING AS THE HOLDER OF AN EQUITABLE INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY (FOURTH DEPT).
Guilty Plea to Possession of a Weapon Charge in One County Precluded Prosecution for the Same Offense in Another County (Double Jeopardy)
DEFENDANT’S COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN THAT COUNSEL’S EXPLANATION OF THE IMMIGRATION CONSEQUENCES OF THE GUILTY PLEA WAS WRONG; MATTER REMITTED FOR A HEARING ON WHETHER THERE IS A REASONABLE POSSIBILITIY DEFENDANT WOULD NOT HAVE PLED GUILTY HAD HE BEEN PROPERLY INFORMED (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Where Arrest Was Not Authorized, Conviction for Resisting Arrest Was Against... Conclusory Allegations Will Not Survive a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State...