GEORGIA-PACIFIC CONSUMER PRODUCTS LP; FORT JAMES CORPORATION nka Fort James LLC; GEORGIA- PACIFIC LLC v. NCR CORPORATION, WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY (24-1404); INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, INC. (24-1403) - Articles

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GEORGIA-PACIFIC CONSUMER PRODUCTS LP; FORT JAMES CORPORATION nka Fort James LLC; GEORGIA- PACIFIC LLC v. NCR CORPORATION, WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY (24-1404); INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, INC. (24-1403)

Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 12, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: John D. Parker, BAKERHOSTETLER, Cleveland, Ohio, for International Paper Company.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Michael R. Huston, PERKINS COIE, LLP, Phoenix, Arizona, for Weyerhaeuser Company. Amanda K. Rice, JONES DAY, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: John D. Parker, Scott Holbrook, BAKERHOSTETLER, Cleveland, Ohio, Ryan D. Fischback, BAKERHOSTETLER, Los Angeles, California, for International Paper Company.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Michael R. Huston, PERKINS COIE, LLP, Phoenix, Arizona, Kathleen M. O’Sullivan, PERKINS COIE LLP, Seattle, Washington, Lauren Pardee Ruben, PERKINS COIE LLP, Denver, Colorado, for Weyerhaeuser Company.

Attorneys 5: ON BRIEF: Amanda K. Rice, JONES DAY, Detroit, Michigan, Matthew J. Rubenstein, JONES DAY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Noel J. Francisco, John Henry Thompson, JONES DAY, Washington, D.C., Michael R. Shebelskie, Douglas M. Garrou, George P. Sibley, III, J. Pierce Lamberson, HUNTON ANDREWS KURTH LLP, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees.

Judge(s): MOORE, GIBBONS, and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. Some 27 years ago, in a suit that Georgia-Pacific itself brought, the district court declared Georgia-Pacific liable for cleanup costs at a site on the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan. As a result of that declaration—under our precedents and a decision of the Supreme Court—Georgia-Pacific could, from that point forward, seek to recover those costs only by means of a contribution action under § 113(f) of the statute known as CERCLA (42 U.S.C. § 9613(f)). In Georgia-Pacific’s last appeal in this case, we held that its claims under § 113(f) were time-barred. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Prods. LP v. NCR Corp., 32 F.4th 534 (6th Cir. 2022). Yet on remand, for reasons that admittedly made good practical sense, the district court re-entered a declaratory judgment that it had awarded to Georgia-Pacific under a different provision of CERCLA, namely § 107. International Paper Company and Weyerhaeuser Company now argue that the court’s re-entry of its declaratory judgment was contrary to law. We agree and vacate the court’s judgment to that extent.

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