Southern Pacific Transportation Co. v. United States

OPINION

WIESE, Judge.

Plaintiff, Southern Pacific Transportation Company and its subsidiary, North*403western Pacific Railroad Company (collectively “Southern Pacific” or “the railroad”) initiated this suit to recover the costs of cleaning up a vandal-caused tank car spill of formaldehyde, a hazardous substance, into a navigable waterway of the United States. The applicable statute, section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (renamed the Clean Water Act), as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1321 (1982), assigns liability for such clean-up costs to the owner or operator of the facility involved.…