CNH owns approximately 100 acres of land near Lake Michigan and operated a foundry and tractor assembly plant there. In July 2004, CNH and Champion entered into a contract that required Champion to remove dismantled equipment, property, materials, and debris from the property and dispose of it legally. Champion was also required to fill all pits, basements, utility tunnels, and other subsurface openings with crushed construction-grade fill concrete. The contract specified that Champion was to comply with all applicable laws.

In 2007, a CNH employee saw a Champion truck delivering fill material to fill a large basement area, which had been the tractor assembly portion of the plant. The CNH employee said the fill had a noticeable diesel odor. Although the parties’ contract required that the material used for fill was to be obtained from the site, Champion’s truck came from outside CNH’s Property. Champion’s then–vice president told CNH managers that the fill material came from Racine Steel Castings and that it had delivered 20 to 25 truckloads to CNH property for fill.

CNH had an environmental consulting firm test the fill material, and the lab concluded that the fill material was contaminated with PCBs, gasoline range organics, and diesel range organics. CNH then notified state and federal authorities of the problem. The government agencies held CNH liable for the cost of cleanup. Discuss whether CNH has any right of recovery from Champion. What happens if Champion is insolvent? What if all of the substances found in the fill were also found on other parts of CNH’s property? [CNH‡America, LLC v Champion Environmental Services, Inc., 863 F. Supp. 2d 793 (E.D.Wis., 2012)]