CERCLA Preempts State-Law Claims Arising Out Of Petroleum Contamination

In what appears to be a first, a federal district court has held that the "Petroleum Exclusion" under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA") preempts state-law contribution claims for costs incurred remediating petroleum-contaminated soil at a CERCLA site. The case is Members of the Beede Site Group v. Federal Home Loan, Mortgage Corp., No. 09-370(WES), 2013 WL 4778570 (D.N.H. Sept. 5, 2013).

The plaintiff asserted claims against other potentially responsible parties for contribution under CERCLA and, alternatively, under state law. The district court characterized the plaintiff as contending that, "if it loses its argument on the applicability of the Petroleum Exclusion, state law gives back an avenue for recovery that Congress took away." Id. at *5. The court rejected the plaintiff's attempt to use...