A clean and healthful condition

In a suit brought in the District Court of the United States for the SOuthern District of Texas under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, Amoco Oil Co. (Amoco) sought a declaratory judgment for liablilty and response cost damages from Borden Inc. (Borden), from which Amoco had purchased contaminated industrial property. The property at issue is a 114-acre tract of land in Texas City, TX. FOr many years, Borden operated a phosphate fertilizer plant on the site. As a by-product of the fertilizer manufacturing process, large quantities of phosphogypsum were produced. The site now contains a large inactive pile of phosphogypsum covering approximately 35 acres. Phosphogypsum alone contains low levels of radioactivity. More highly radioactive sludges and scales from processing equipment, however, were dumped into the phosphogypsum pile creating hot areas within the pile. Additionally, during processing, radioactive materials became concentrated in manufacturing equipment, pipe, and filter cloths used in production. These materials constitute off-pile wastes and were left primarily near a junkyard on the property and near the abandoned manufacturing buildings. Some of the off-pile sites contain over 500 times the background level of radiation