Ameripride Case Summary

Plaintiff AmeriPride services, Inc (“Plaintiffs”) initiated action pursuant to CERCLA more than sixteen years ago to recover investigation and remediation costs of about $7.75 million it incurred after a perchloroethelyne (“PCE”) contamination caused by previous owners Valley Industrial Services, Inc. (“VIS”) an industrial dry cleaning and laundry business using PCE as a solvent. VIS would eventually merge into Texas Eastern Overseas, Inc (“TEO”). After trial, appeal, and settlement with other parties TEO remains as sole defendant. The Court found the apportionment of liability between AmeriPride and TEO at fifty-fifty, concluding “given the facts as the court has found them… the fairest apportionment is to divide responsibility equally.” Then
The court entered an order finding: The amount subject to equitable allocation totaling at $15,508,912.36. The court calculated the amount by combining AmeriPride's investigation, remediation costs, then adding the $10.25 milllion in AmeriPride settlement to Huhtamaki and Cal-Am. the court then deducted $3.25 million AmeriPride received in settling its claims against Chromalloy and Petrolane. Applying the Uniform Cotribution Among Tortfeasor's Act's ("UCATA") pro tanto approach to equitably account for these settlements. Next, the Court apportioned the liability fifty-fifty between TEO and AmeriPride and holding TEO responsible for paying one half of all future cleanup costs. The Court also ordered TEO to pay prejudgement interest to AmeriPride "in amounts calculated in accordance with 42 U.S.C. §9607."
On Aril 20,2012 the Court issued its Order determining issues raised at the trial, including the award of interest, adopting all undisputed facts of the Pretrial Order. The Court entered judgment orsering TEO to pay $9, 974,421.95 and issued a declaratory judgment holing TEO responsible for one-half of all future cleanup