Boyd v. Boston Gas ( 1993 )


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    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    ____________________

    No. 92-2150

    THE JOHN S. BOYD COMPANY, INC., ET AL.,

    Plaintiffs, Appellees,

    v.

    BOSTON GAS COMPANY, ET AL.,

    Defendants, Appellees,

    ____________________

    NEW ENGLAND ELECTRIC SYSTEM, ET AL.,

    Defendants, Appellants.

    ____________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

    [Hon. Joseph L. Tauro, U.S. District Judge]
    ___________________

    ____________________

    Before

    Torruella, Cyr and Boudin,

    Circuit Judges.
    ______________

    _____________________

    Scott P. Lewis, with whom Palmer & Dodge, and John F.
    _______________ ________________ ________
    Sherman III, were on brief for appellants.
    ___________
    Gerald P. Tishler, with whom James W. Stoll, Jonathan J.
    __________________ ______________ ___________
    Kane, Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer, Lawrence E. McCormick, and
    ____ _______________________________ _____________________
    Wendy B. Levine, were on brief for appellees.
    _______________

    ____________________

    May 26, 1993
    ____________________














    TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge. In this appeal we determine
    _____________

    whether appellants must pay the entire cost of cleaning up two

    different environmental hazards: coal gas waste and oil gas

    waste. As the district court correctly apportioned liability

    under the governing principles of the Comprehensive Environmental

    Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"), 42

    U.S.C. 9601 et seq., and the Massachusetts Superfund Act, Mass.
    _______

    Ann. L. ch. 21E (1993), we affirm.

    FACTS
    FACTS
    _____

    The Lynn Gas Light Co. began manufacturing gas in

    Massachusetts in the mid-1800's. The Lynn Electric Light Co., an

    electric utility, began operation some thirty years later. These

    companies merged in 1888, by legislative decree, to form the Lynn

    Gas and Electric Co. That company continued to manufacture gas

    from coal ("coal gas") in large quantities until 1951, when

    natural gas became available. After that date, Lynn Gas and

    Electric Co. and the successor to its gas business manufactured

    gas from oil ("oil gas") in small quantities, to supplement the

    supply of natural gas during peak periods of use. This

    manufacture, called peak shaving, continued until 1972.

    New England Electric System ("NEES"), a holding company

    owning various utilities and an appellant in this case, bought

    about 97% of the Lynn Gas and Electric Company in 1957. In 1959,

    NEES created a new company, called the Lynn Gas Co., and

    structured a transaction between the new company and the Lynn Gas

    and Electric Co. In this transaction, the Lynn Gas Co. acquired


    -2-














    the gas portion of the Lynn Gas and Electric Co. Lynn Gas and

    Electric Co. kept the electric portion and changed its name to

    Lynn Electric Co. Lynn Gas Co. became part of NEES' gas

    division. In 1962, Lynn Electric merged into the Massachusetts

    Electric Company ("Mass. Electric"), a subsidiary of NEES and

    also an appellant in this case.

    In the 1959 Separation Agreement, Lynn Gas agreed to

    assume "all the duties and liabilities of Lynn Gas and Electric

    related to such gas business." The Agreement spelled out those

    duties and liabilities, but did not mention environmental or

    other contingent liabilities. Nonetheless, Lynn Gas Co. agreed

    to "indemnify and save harmless Lynn Electric Company from any

    duty or liability with respect to the gas business." The

    separation of the Lynn Gas Co. from Mass. Electric was not truly

    completed by the Agreement. Mass. Electric conveyed much of the

    gas-related real estate to Lynn Gas in 1962, more than two years

    after the separation occurred, and continued conveying gas-

    related parcels of land to Lynn Gas until 1970. Mass. Electric

    never transferred other parcels.

    In 1964 the SEC ordered NEES to divest itself of its

    gas holdings under the Public Utilities Holding Company Act, 15

    U.S.C. 79a et seq. The Supreme Court affirmed. SEC v. New
    _______ ___ ___

    England Electric System, 390 U.S. 207 (1968). NEES finalized the
    _______________________

    divestiture in 1973 by selling Lynn Gas and several other gas

    companies to Boston Gas, a company unaffiliated with NEES. In

    the Purchase Agreement, Boston Gas agreed to assume the


    -3-














    liabilities of Lynn Gas "as then existing." A similar clause in

    the later document entitled Assumption of Liabilities provided

    that Boston Gas would assume all liabilities "outstanding at the

    date hereof." The Lynn Gas Co. was dissolved in 1980.

    Some of the land upon which the Lynn Gas & Electric Co.

    and Lynn Gas Co. manufactured gas was taken by eminent domain

    from Boston Gas and Mass. Electric in 1981 and sold to outside

    buyers. When these buyers discovered that the property was

    contaminated by coal gas waste, they sued NEES, NEES

    subsidiaries, and Boston Gas under CERCLA and its Massachusetts

    parallel.1 During the course of the suit, Boston Gas filed a

    claim against NEES because oil gas waste, generated after 1951,

    contaminated property it acquired in the Lynn Gas Co. deal.

    The case proceeded in two phases. The first phase

    resulted in a partial consent decree holding the utilities

    jointly and severally liable to plaintiffs for the cleanup. The

    second phase concerned liability among the utilities, and is the

    subject of this appeal. In the second phase, the court assigned

    full liability to Mass. Electric, as the successor of the Lynn

    Gas and Electric Co., for the cleanup of coal gas waste on

    plaintiffs' property. The court also ordered NEES and its

    subsidiary New England Power Service Co. ("NEPSCO")2 to pay for


    ____________________

    1 Plaintiffs also raised other claims, but their disposition is
    not at issue on appeal.

    2 NEPSCO is a service company devoted to providing
    administrative, engineering, and other services to NEES
    companies.

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    the cleanup of oil gas waste on Boston Gas' property. This

    appeal followed.


















































    -5-














    DISCUSSION
    DISCUSSION
    __________

    Under CERCLA3, four parties may be responsible for the

    costs of an environmental cleanup. These are: the owner or

    operator of a contaminated vessel or facility; the owner and

    operator of a facility at the time it became contaminated; any

    person who arranges for the transport or disposal of hazardous

    wastes; and any person who accepts hazardous wastes for the

    purposes of transport or disposal. 42 U.S.C. 9607(a). Courts

    have interpreted this statute to include successor corporations

    in a merger situation, e.g., Anspec Co. v. Johnson Controls,
    ____ __________ __________________

    Inc., 922 F.2d 1240, 1245 (6th Cir. 1991); Louisiana-Pacific
    ____ _________________

    Corp. v. Asarco, Inc., 909 F.2d 1260, 1262-63 (9th Cir. 1990),
    _____ ____________

    and parent corporations when the parent can be considered an

    operator, United States v. Kayser-Roth Corp., 910 F.2d 24, 26
    _____________ _________________

    (1st Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 111 S. Ct. 957 (1991), or an
    _____________

    owner, United States v. Kayser-Roth Corp., 724 F. Supp. 15, 23
    _____________ __________________


    ____________________

    3 Although we primarily discuss CERCLA in the body of the
    opinion, we have not overlooked the fact that the Massachusetts
    Superfund Act is also a part of this case. CERCLA "is in many
    ways analogous to the Massachusetts statute." Acme Laundry Co.
    _________________
    v. Secretary of Environmental Affairs, 410 Mass. 760, 575 N.E.2d
    __________________________________
    1086, 1092 (1991); see also Dedham Water Co. v. Cumberland Farms
    ________ ________________ ________________
    Dairy, Inc., 889 F.2d 1146, 1156 (1st Cir. 1989) (Massachusetts
    ____________
    statute "is patterned after the federal CERCLA statute"). As
    such, the Massachusetts courts construe it in line with the
    Federal decisions "absent compelling reasons to the contrary or
    significant differences in content." Rollins Environmental
    ______________________
    Services, Inc. v. Superior Court, 368 Mass. 174, 330 N.E.2d 814,
    _______________ ______________
    818 (1975) (discussing rules of procedure). Of course, the
    Massachusetts statute differs from CERCLA in some respects. See
    ___
    Griffith v. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co., 414 Mass. 824,
    ________ _____________________________________
    610 N.E.2d 944 (1993) (defining owner and operator differently
    for the purposes of strict liability). We will not discuss
    Massachusetts law unless it becomes relevant to the case.

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    (D. R.I. 1989).

    The list of responsible parties reflects CERCLA's

    "essential purpose" of making "those responsible for problems

    caused by the disposal of chemical poisons bear the costs and

    responsibility for remedying the harmful conditions they

    created." Dedham Water Co. v. Cumberland Farms Dairy, Inc., 805
    ________________ ____________________________

    F.2d 1074, 1081 (1st Cir. 1986).4 CERCLA thus makes such

    parties liable to the government or to other private parties for

    the costs of a cleanup. Id.
    ___

    If 9607(a) imposes liability on a party, then that

    party cannot escape liability by means of a contract with another

    party. 42 U.S.C. 9607(e)(1) provides that "[n]o . . .

    agreement or conveyance shall be effective to transfer from the

    owner or operator of any vessel or facility or from any person

    who may be liable for a release or threat of release under this

    section, to any other person the liability imposed under this

    section." That is, the government or a private party can pursue

    any responsible party it desires.

    Two or more parties, however, can allocate ultimate

    responsibility among themselves by contract. The same statute

    states that "[n]othing in this subsection shall bar any agreement

    to insure, hold harmless, or indemnify a party to such agreement


    ____________________

    4 In Dedham Water, we recognized one other fundamental policy of
    ____________
    CERCLA: "Congress intended that the federal government be
    immediately given the tools necessary for a prompt and effective
    response to the problems of national magnitude resulting from
    hazardous waste disposal." 805 F.2d at 1081. That policy is not
    implicated in this appeal.

    -7-














    for any liability under this section." Id. Such agreements have
    ___

    been described as "tangential" to the enforcement of CERCLA.

    Jones-Hamilton Co. v. Beazer Materials and Services, Inc., 973
    __________________ _____________________________________

    F.2d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1992).

    Appellants contend that the district court erred in

    imposing the full cost of cleanup in this case on them because,

    as companies separate from the Lynn Gas and Electric Co. or the

    Lynn Gas Co., they are not responsible parties under CERCLA.

    Rather, the district court should have imposed the full cost of

    cleanup on appellee Boston Gas. Appellants arrive at this

    conclusion in two steps. First, they argue that the Lynn Gas Co.

    is the direct successor to the gas portion of the Lynn Gas and

    Electric Co., and assumed its coal gas liability. Next,

    appellants argue that Boston Gas, as the successor of the Lynn

    Gas Co., assumed its coal and oil gas liabilities. We disagree

    with appellant on all points.

    I.
    I.

    We first discuss who is responsible for the coal gas

    waste created before any of the present parties were involved

    with the Lynn Gas and Electric Co. To accept appellant's

    conclusion, we must find that the liability shifted from the

    independent Lynn Gas and Electric Co., to the NEES-owned Lynn Gas

    and Electric Co. (renamed the Lynn Electric Co.), to the Lynn Gas

    Co., and finally to Boston Gas. We cannot do so, as the district

    court correctly found that the chain of liability for coal gas

    waste broke at the link between NEES and the Lynn Gas Co.


    -8-














    When NEES bought Lynn Gas and Electric Co., it

    maintained that company as a separate entity with continuing

    liability under CERCLA for the waste it created before 1951. See
    ___

    42 U.S.C. 9607(a)(1) (owner and operator of a vessel or

    facility is a responsible party). When NEES sold the gas portion

    of Lynn Gas and Electric Co. to the newly-created Lynn Gas Co.,

    the environmental liabilities of Lynn Gas and Electric did not

    disappear.

    Consistent with CERCLA's policy of holding the company

    that sullied the property responsible for the costs of cleanup,

    see Dedham Water, supra, those liabilities travelled to the
    ___ _____________ _____

    successor, if any, of Lynn Gas and Electric. See 42 U.S.C.
    ___

    9607(a)(2) (owner or operator of facility at time of discharge is

    a responsible party); Smith Land & Improvement Corp. v. Celotex
    _______________________________ _______

    Corp., 851 F.2d 86, 91 (3d Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S.
    _____ ____________

    1029 (1989).

    Initially, Lynn Gas and Electric Co. and Lynn Electric

    Co. were the same entities. That fact is reflected not merely

    because of a simple name change, but also because the Lynn

    Electric Co. kept Lynn Gas and Electric's property. As noted

    above, the Lynn Electric Co., which by then merged into Mass.

    Electric, conveyed the gas-related property to the Lynn Gas Co.

    at various points between 1962 and 1970. By virtue of the

    merger, Mass. Electric became the heir to the assets and

    liabilities of the Lynn Electric Co. See Smith Land, 851 F.2d at
    ___ __________

    91 ("In case of merger . . . where one corporation ceases to


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    exist and the other corporation continues in existence, the

    latter corporation is liable for the debts, contracts and torts

    of the former").

    The question, then, is whether the Lynn Gas and

    Electric Co. transferred to the Lynn Gas Co. ultimate

    responsibility for environmental hazards by contract. The

    relevant document is the Separation Agreement (the "Agreement")

    entered into between the parties on September 9, 1959; a later

    indenture also bears on the issue. As neither document

    apportions CERCLA liabilities explicitly, we must discern the

    intent of the parties. We do this by reference to other cases

    dealing with nonexplicit assumptions of liability in order to set

    a standard by which to measure that intent.

    We note at the outset that the district court was

    uncertain whether to use a state rule of contract interpretation

    or a uniform federal rule. Indeed, while federal law governs the

    validity of liability agreements in the CERCLA context, Mardan
    ______

    Corp. v. C.G.C. Music, Ltd., 804 F.2d 1454, 1457 (9th Cir. 1986),
    _____ __________________

    courts have wrestled with what the content of that law should be.

    The majority of courts have turned to state contract law to

    provide the substantive rule, so long as it is not hostile to the

    federal interests animating CERCLA. E.g., id.; United States v.
    ____ ___ _____________

    Hardage, 985 F.2d 1427, 1433 (10th Cir. 1993); Jones-Hamilton Co.
    _______ __________________

    v. Beazer Materials & Services, Inc., 973 F.2d 688, 692-93 (9th
    __________________________________

    Cir. 1992); Olin Corp. v. Consolidated Aluminum Corp, 807 F.
    __________ ___________________________

    Supp. 1133, 1141 (S.D.N.Y. 1992); Rodenbeck v. Marathon Petroleum
    _________ __________________


    -10-














    Co., 742 F. Supp. 1448, 1456-57 (N.D. Ind. 1990). But see Mobay
    ___ _______ _____

    Corp. v. Allied-Signal, Inc., 761 F. Supp. 345, 352 (D. N.J.
    _____ ____________________

    1991); Wiegmann & Rose Int'l Corp. v. NL Industries, 735 F. Supp.
    ___________________________ _____________

    957, 961-62 (N.D. Cal. 1990).

    This circuit recently reached the same conclusion in an

    analogous situation. American Policyholders Insurance Co. v.
    ______________________________________

    Nyacol Products, Inc., No. 92-1949, slip op. at 16 (1st Cir.
    ______________________

    Feb. 24, 1993) (rejecting use of "uniform federal rule of

    decision to govern interpretation of an insurance policy's scope

    of coverage vis-a-vis CERCLA liability"); see also Robertshaw
    _________ __________

    Controls Co. v. Watts Regulator Co., 807 F. Supp. 144, 153 (D.
    ____________ ___________________

    Me. 1992) (applying state rather than federal law to interpret

    whether settlement agreement shifted CERCLA liability).

    We thus look to Massachusetts law for guidance in

    interpreting the Agreement with respect to CERCLA liabilities.

    Two principles strike us as particularly relevant. First, "laws

    enacted after the execution of an agreement are not commonly

    considered to become part of the agreement unless its provisions

    clearly establish that the parties intended to incorporate

    subsequent enactments into their agreement." Arthur D. Little,
    _________________

    Inc. v. Commissioner of Health and Hospitals, 395 Mass. 535, 481
    ____ ____________________________________

    N.E.2d 441, 452 n.13 (1985) (quoting Feakes v. Bozycako, 373
    ______ ________

    Mass. 633, 369 N.E.2d 978, 980 (1977)); see also Mayor of Salem
    _________ ______________

    v. Warner-Amex Cable Communications, Inc., 392 Mass. 663, 467
    _______________________________________

    N.E.2d 208, 210 (1984). Second, "a general release . . . is to

    be given effect, even if the parties did not have in mind all the


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    wrongs which existed at the time of the release," so long as the

    language of that release is broad enough to encompass such

    contingent liability. Naukeag Inn, Inc. v. Rideout, 351 Mass.
    __________________ _______

    353, 220 N.E.2d 916, 918 (1966).

    These principles essentially lead to one rule

    applicable to the present case. To transfer CERCLA liability,

    the Agreement must contain language broad enough to allow us to

    say that the parties intended to transfer either contingent,

    environmental liability, or all liability. The Agreement must

    recognize the possibility of future liability or dispense Lynn

    Gas and Electric of all liabilities in the form of a general

    release. Unfortunately for appellants, the language of the

    Agreement is not drafted in such broad terms.

    While initially the Agreement provides that "Lynn Gas

    will assume and take over all the duties and liabilities" related

    to the gas business, the Agreement later lists those obligations.

    The series contains obligations pertaining only to the existing

    business, such as obligations to serve gas customers, honor

    contracts for the purchase and sale of new facilities, and

    provide reserves to account for bad debt and depreciation on the

    gas plant. No reference is made to any future or contingent

    liabilities.

    An indenture entered into by the parties several months

    later contains a similar list. A catch-all provision on

    liability refers to the liabilities "indicated in summary form by

    the balance sheet" attached to the document, revealing an intent


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    that the only liabilities assumed were those known, existing, and

    somehow accounted for at the time of execution. It is true that

    the indenture states that the liabilities specifically assumed by

    Lynn Gas are "without implied limitation." But it is one thing

    to say that the list of liabilities is not all-inclusive and

    quite another to assume that the obligations not specified

    include then non-existent environmental liabilities to be created

    under CERCLA and unforeseeable when the agreement was made.

    We must conclude that neither document evidences the

    intent to transfer environmental liability in the requisite broad

    language. The responsible party in this case, as between Mass.

    Electric and Boston Gas, is Mass. Electric -- the successor to

    the Lynn Gas and Electric Co. See ante at 7-8.
    ___ ____

    II.
    II.

    We now discuss who is responsible for the oil gas waste

    contaminating the property owned by Boston Gas. To find for

    appellants, we must determine that Boston Gas agreed to assume

    the environmental liabilities of the oil gas waste produced by

    Lynn Gas Co. between 1951 and 1970. Happily, the contract

    principles that steered our analysis on the issue of coal gas

    waste steer most of our analysis on this issue also. We must

    determine whether Boston Gas agreed to assume environmental

    liabilities in its agreement to buy Lynn Gas Co.5

    ____________________

    5 Technically, NEES sold the Lynn Gas Co. first to Eastern Gas
    and Fuel Associates, the parent company of Boston Gas. Eastern
    then sold Lynn Gas to Boston Gas on the same day. Because this
    intermediate transaction does not alter any liability in this
    case by statute, contract, or any other norm, we discuss Eastern

    -13-














    The contract governing the sale of Lynn Gas to Boston

    Gas, the Closing Agreement, provides an easier case than did the

    Agreement discussed above. The Closing Agreement expressly

    limited the liabilities assumed by Boston Gas to those "as then

    existing." A similar clause in the Assumption of Liabilities

    document provided that Boston Gas would assume only those

    liabilities "outstanding at the date hereof." Such language

    fairly obviously forecloses the possibility that Boston Gas

    agreed to assume any contingent liabilities, much less the

    environmental liabilities at issue here. Nothing in the

    remaining documents changes this conclusion.

    Apart from the language of the contract, the district

    court found several other facts convincing in finding that Boston

    Gas lacked the intent to assume the liability here at issue. For

    example, the parties did not discuss oil gas waste in their

    negotiations. Indeed, it does not appear that Boston Gas was

    informed about the oil gas waste at all. Furthermore, there was

    no communication between the parties about any contingent

    liabilities not appearing on the balance sheet. These facts

    bolster our confidence in concluding that Boston Gas did not

    accept those liabilities.

    Although we are convinced that Boston Gas cannot be

    held liable for the oil gas waste, we must determine whether the

    district court was correct to impose those liabilities on NEES

    and NEPSCO. In other words, are NEES and NEPSCO responsible

    ____________________

    no further.

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    parties?

    In Kayser-Roth, 910 F.2d at 26, we determined that
    ___________

    parent companies can be held liable for CERCLA liability as

    operators of a contaminated facility under 42 U.S.C.

    9607(a)(2).6 Such liability is direct; it does not require us

    to pierce the corporate veil. Id. at 27 ("Kayser is being held
    ___

    liable for its activities as an operator, not the activities of a
    ___

    subsidiary"). In contrast, piercing the corporate veil is a form

    of owner liability. Kayser Roth, 724 F. Supp. at 23. The
    ____________

    district court determined that Kayser was liable both as an

    operator and an owner. Id. at 22-24. When the case came before
    ___

    our court, we left open the question of owner liability because

    our finding on operator liability resolved the issues

    satisfactorily. 910 F.2d at 28 n.11.

    We envisioned in Kayser that holding a parent liable as
    ______

    an operator would be somewhat unusual. Id. at 27. "To be an
    ___

    operator requires more than merely complete ownership and the

    concomitant general authority or ability to control that comes

    with ownership. At a minimum it requires active involvement in

    the activities of the subsidiary." Id. This standard requires
    ___

    an investigation into the relationship between the parent and

    subsidiary, in order to reveal the requisite level of corporate

    involvement. As the question is fact-laden, we review the

    district court's findings only for clear error. Id.
    ___

    ____________________

    6 That section holds liable "any person who at the time of
    disposal of any hazardous substance owned or operated any
    facility at which such hazardous substances were disposed of."

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    The relationship among the relevant companies in this

    case amply demonstrates that operator liability burdens NEES and

    NEPSCO with the responsibility to purge the oil gas waste from

    Boston Gas' property. We recite only a few of the facts which

    the district court found dispositive, and which we too find

    important.

    NEES continually maintained a presence among the

    officers and directors of Lynn Gas. The president of Lynn Gas

    was also the president of NEES' gas division; he was appointed by

    the chairman of NEES and reported directly to NEES officials.

    NEES selected the directors of Lynn Gas, and a senior officer of

    NEES approved Lynn Gas' budget. Lynn Gas needed approval for all

    expenditures over $5,000. NEPSCO provided extensive services to

    Lynn Gas, such as controlling the checking account, handling the

    purchase of the oil used in peak shaving, and maintaining Lynn

    Gas property. NEPSCO employees were also well represented among

    Lynn's officers and directors.

    Given the almost overwhelming evidence, we cannot say

    that the district court clearly erred in finding that NEES and

    NEPSCO were operators of the Lynn Gas facilities. NEES and

    NEPSCO are responsible parties for the oil gas waste created

    while they were linked to the Lynn Gas Co.

    III.
    III.

    We must resolve several residual matters, but they need

    not detain us long.

    Appellants contend that under the principles of


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    successor liability, Boston Gas must be liable for the cleanup of

    the waste sites. Appellants' argument has initial appeal in that

    Boston Gas, and Lynn Gas before it, took over the gas business of

    other companies. This argument, however, does not reflect the

    successor corporation doctrine. In Dayton v. Peck, Stow and
    ______ _______________

    Wilcox Co., 739 F.2d 690, 692 (1st Cir. 1984), we identified four
    __________

    situations in which successor liability is appropriate: when the

    buyer agrees to assume liability; when a consolidation or de

    facto merger occurs; when the buyer is merely a continuation of

    the seller; and when the transaction is a fraud to escape

    liability.

    We have already determined that Boston Gas, and Lynn

    Gas before it, did not agree to assume environmental liability.

    Furthermore, there is no allegation of fraud in this case. Only

    the merger and continuation situations remain to bind Boston Gas

    as successor to the gas liabilities in this case. There was, of

    course, no formal merger by which Lynn Gas Co. -- and later

    Boston Gas -- assumed the liabilities of Lynn Gas and Electric

    Co., so appellants would have to prove a de facto merger claim.

    Central to a de facto merger or continuation of the seller

    corporation claim, however, is a finding that shareholders,

    officers and directors continued into the buyer corporation. Id.
    ___

    at 693. Boston Gas, however, did not share any such continuity.

    The successor corporation doctrine actually supports imposing

    liability on appellants, as the requisite continuity existed in

    their corporate structures.


    -17-














    Appellants also argue that Mass. Gen. L. ch. 164 98

    requires the assumption by Boston Gas of the environmental

    liabilities at issue here. That brief statute states that "[t]he

    purchasing or consolidated company shall . . . be subject to all

    the duties, liabilities and restrictions, of the company selling

    or merged as aforesaid, so far as they are applicable to the

    purchasing or consolidated company." The district court found

    that the statute simply serves to allocate the rights of the

    public with respect to the utilities, and does not curtail the

    rights of contracting parties to allocate ultimate liability

    between themselves.

    We find no error in the district court's interpretation

    of 98. The documents transferring the gas business to Lynn Gas

    Co. and later selling Lynn Gas Co. to Boston Gas both refer to

    98. The documents proceed to list the present liabilities owed

    by the companies to customers and other members of the public.

    The parties thus understood the statute to allocate certain,

    existing liabilities only. The liabilities at issue in this case

    are not among them.

    Finally, appellants argue that equity requires Boston

    Gas to share in the cost of the cleanup. We find nothing

    inequitable in imposing those costs solely on appellants,

    however. The policy underlying CERCLA -- to make those who

    befouled the environment responsible for its cleanup -- is

    certainly equitable. See Dedham Water, 805 F.2d at 1081. We
    ___ ____________

    have found that appellants were the proper responsible parties in


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    this case, and it is equitable for them to clean up the property.

    Affirmed.
    ________


















































    -19-







Document Info

Docket Number: 92-2150

Filed Date: 5/26/1993

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 9/21/2015

Authorities (20)

David Dayton v. Peck, Stow and Wilcox Co. (Pexto) , 739 F.2d 690 ( 1984 )

United States v. Kayser-Roth Corp., Inc. , 910 F.2d 24 ( 1990 )

smith-land-improvement-corporation-in-87-5740-v-the-celotex , 851 F.2d 86 ( 1988 )

The Anspec Company, Inc. And Hugh Montgomery v. Johnson ... , 922 F.2d 1240 ( 1991 )

Dedham Water Company and Dedham-Westwood Water District v. ... , 889 F.2d 1146 ( 1989 )

Dedham Water Company v. Cumberland Farms Dairy, Inc. , 805 F.2d 1074 ( 1986 )

Mayor of Salem v. Warner Amex Cable Communications Inc. , 392 Mass. 663 ( 1984 )

Jones-Hamilton Co., a California Corporation v. Beazer ... , 973 F.2d 688 ( 1992 )

Mardan Corporation v. C.G.C. Music, Ltd. And MacMillan Inc. , 804 F.2d 1454 ( 1986 )

Rollins Environmental Services, Inc. v. Superior Court , 368 Mass. 174 ( 1975 )

Acme Laundry Co. v. Secretary of Environmental Affairs , 410 Mass. 760 ( 1991 )

Griffith v. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co. , 414 Mass. 824 ( 1993 )

Wiegmann & Rose International Corp. v. NL Industries , 735 F. Supp. 957 ( 1990 )

Rodenbeck v. Marathon Petroleum Co. , 742 F. Supp. 1448 ( 1990 )

Feakes v. Bozyczko , 373 Mass. 633 ( 1977 )

Naukeag Inn, Inc. v. Rideout , 351 Mass. 353 ( 1966 )

Arthur D. Little, Inc. v. Commissioner of Health & Hospitals , 395 Mass. 535 ( 1985 )

Securities & Exchange Commission v. New England Electric ... , 88 S. Ct. 916 ( 1968 )

Robertshaw Controls Co. v. Watts Regulator Co. , 807 F. Supp. 144 ( 1992 )

Mobay Corp. v. Allied-Signal, Inc. , 761 F. Supp. 345 ( 1991 )

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