City Of Phoenix v. Garbage Services Co.

827 F. Supp. 600 (1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Valley National Bank (D) owned a landfill as trustee of an estate. The landfill was managed by Garbage Services Company, a company which was wholly owned by the testator. Although D held all of the stock of the company as trustee of the estate, it had no involvement in the company's operation, or its management of the landfill. The landfill was later closed. The City of Phoenix (P) subsequently acquired ownership of the landfill pursuant to condemnation proceedings. P incurred costs for the cleanup of hazardous substances which were allegedly put in the landfill while D owned it as an asset of the testator's estate, and sued to recover them under CERCLA. In a prior proceeding, the court held that a trustee is a property owner under CERCLA, and is liable for response costs. D now moves for summary judgment to limit its liability to the amount of assets it holds in trust.