56
Opinion of the Court
sons [may be tagged with] the cost of their actions," S. Rep. No. 96-848, p. 13 (1980).1 The term "person" is defined in CERCLA to include corporations and other business organizations, see 42 U. S. C. § 9601(21), and the term "facility" enjoys a broad and detailed definition as well, see § 9601(9).2 The phrase "owner or operator" is defined only by tautology, however, as "any person owning or operating" a facility, § 9601(20)(A)(ii), and it is this bit of circularity that prompts our review. Cf. Exxon Corp. v. Hunt, supra, at 363 (CERCLA, "unfortunately, is not a model of legislative draftsmanship").
II
In 1957, Ott Chemical Co. (Ott I) began manufacturing chemicals at a plant near Muskegon, Michigan, and its intentional and unintentional dumping of hazardous substances significantly polluted the soil and ground water at the site. In 1965, respondent CPC International Inc.3 incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary to buy Ott I's assets in exchange for CPC stock. The new company, also dubbed Ott Chemical Co. (Ott II), continued chemical manufacturing at the site, and continued to pollute its surroundings. CPC kept the
1 "CERCLA . . . imposes the costs of the cleanup on those responsible for the contamination." Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co., 491 U. S. 1, 7 (1989). "The remedy that Congress felt it needed in CERCLA is sweeping: everyone who is potentially responsible for hazardous-waste contamination may be forced to contribute to the costs of cleanup." Id., at 21 (plurality opinion of Brennan, J.).
2 "The term 'facility' means (A) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, land-fill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft, or (B) any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located; but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any vessel."
3 CPC has recently changed its name to Bestfoods. Consistently with the briefs and the opinions below, we use the name CPC herein.
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