Shell Gets U.S. High Court Hearing on Cleanup Suits (Update1)
By Greg Stohr
Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Supreme Court will consider putting new limits on claims against companies under the federal Superfund law, agreeing to hear arguments from Shell Oil Co. in a California case.
The justices will review a ruling that required Shell to help pay for the cleanup of a California site that once housed an agricultural chemical distribution facility. The court also will hear a related appeal in the case by units of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Union Pacific Corp.
Shell, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, argued that it wasn’t to blame for what it called “sloppy handling” of chemicals by Brown & Bryant Inc., the now-defunct company that operated the facility. Shell sold Brown & Bryant chemicals that leaked into the ground, threatening water supplies.
In its appeal, Shell said the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals imposed liability “for the mere sale of a commercially useful product.”
The Bush administration, which urged the high court not to consider the case, countered that Shell “was deeply involved in the delivery process” of a chemical known as D-D. Shell arranged for tanker trucks to deliver the chemical to the Arvin, California, facility.
“The record also is replete with evidence that spills of D- D were inherent and inevitable in the delivery process that Shell arranged, and that Shell was aware of that fact,” acting U.S. solicitor general Gregory Garre argued.
`Arranged for Disposal’
The Superfund law imposes cleanup costs on companies that “arranged for disposal” of hazardous substances.
Shell has support from several business-backed groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute.
The railroads, which owned an acre of the land used by the chemical facility under a lease, filed a separate appeal contending that they shouldn’t be responsible for the entire cost of the cleanup. Shell made similar arguments in its appeal.
The cases are Burlington Northern v. United States, 07-1601, and Shell Oil v. United States, 07-1607.
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at[email protected].
Last Updated: October 1, 2008 10:12 EDT
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
