C.A. 4th;
D070553

The Fourth Appellate District affirmed in part and reversed in part a judgment and remanded. The court held that a water district was not required to demonstrate liability for remediation costs caused by groundwater pollution in order to bring a private cause of action for indemnity under the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act (HSAA).

After discovering various volatile organic compounds and perchlorate in local groundwater, the Orange County Water District sued more than two dozen current and former owners and operators of certain sites in the district's South Basin area that it believed were in some way responsible for the groundwater contamination. The district asserted statutory claims for damages under the HSAA and the Orange County Water District Act (OCWD Act) and for declaratory relief. The district also asserted common law claims for negligence, nuisance, and trespass.