Yesterday the Court decided CTS Corp. v. Waldburger (non-federal-Indian-law case). The Court held that injured parties cannot bring claims against corporations that pollute if the claim falls outside of a state statute of repose, even if the claim would be otherwise preserved by a federal law. Generally, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) pre-empts state statutes of limitation, because Congress wanted to preserve injuries from pollution that can sometimes take years to discover. However, North Carolina also has a state statute of repose, which bars claims brought more than 10 years after the last culpable act. Since CERCLA only specifically identifies statutes of limitations and not repose, the Court found the claimants are unable to bring their damages claim against the company (which sold the land in 1987).
In her dissent with Justice Breyer, Justice Ginsburg would preserve the claim, finding Congress’s intent was to preserve these claims, regardless of the name of the state limitations statute.
Not only will this decision harm the landowners involved in the case, but those injured by contaminated wells at Camp Lejeune (a Marine base also in North Carolina), who currently have claims pending in the 11th Circuit. Article here from right after oral arguments (though it misjudges J. Kagan, who joined the majority in the case).
Turtle Talk 