State Ex Rel. Department of Environmental Quality v. BNSF Railway Co.

¶1 The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) brought suit under Montana’s Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (CECRA), seeking to compel BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) to abate contamination at three former industrial sites. The First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, found BNSF jointly and severally liable for contamination as an owner, past owner and operator, and arranger under CECRA. The court ordered BNSF to abate the contamination but did not order that abatement occur pursuant to DEQ’s Record of Decision (ROD). DEQ appeals and BNSF…