United States v. Maryland Bank & Trust Co.

NORTHROP, Senior District Judge.

This case presents the novel question of whether a bank, which formerly held a mortgage on a parcel of land, later purchased the land at a foreclosure sale and continues to own it, must reimburse the United States for the cost of cleaning up hazardous wastes on the land, when those wastes were dumped prior to ^ the bank’s purchase of the property.

The United States instituted this action pursuant to section 107 of the Comprehen sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. § 9607 (1983), to recover the expenses…