Union Carbide and Property Owners Both Liable for Polluted Water

Union Carbide Corp. and Courtland Co. are both liable for costs associated with responding to pollution from a landfill and railyard, a federal judge ruled after an 18-day bench trial.

“Simply stated, UCC and Courtland are both contributing to the same harm at issue in this action: the contamination of groundwater on the Courtland Property,” Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. of the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia said in his Thursday opinion.

The equitable allocation of response costs for each party will be resolved after the conclusion of the damages phase of the trial, Copenhaver ...