(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 4, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court said Shell Oil Co. cannot be held responsible for cleanup of a contaminated site owned by a defunct company simply because it delivered chemicals to the site.
The court, in a 8-1 decision Monday, also decided that railroad companies that leased the defunct company part of the land would have to pay for a small part of the cleanup.
Brown & Bryant used a site in Arvin, Calif. to store and sell agriculture chemicals like weed killers and pesticides — some of which were delivered there by Shell — before going out of business in 1988. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Co. and Union Pacific Railroad leased a .09 acre parcel to Brown & Bryant starting in 1975 until the company went out of business.
The government was forced to come and clean up the 4.7 acres of land after Brown & Bryant went out of business, and wanted Shell and the railroads to help pay the cost of the cleanup.
The high court said Shell could not be charged, and that the railroads only had to pay 9 percent of the cleanup.