Court Says Party in Purchase-Leaseback Might Be Liable as Owner of Equipment

摘要

The owner of equipment leased to a company that used it in activities that produced pollution faces liability as a facility "owner" under the superfund law, a federal trial court ruled Feb. 9 (United States v. Saporito, N.D. 111., No. 07-CV-3169, 2/9/10). The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that James Saporito, as the owner of electroplating equipment he leased to a company called Crescent Plating, faces liability as an owner for contamination stemming from the company's electroplating operations.