Seindenberg and Hutchinson (the site owners) leased a fouracre tract of land (the Bluff Road site) to a chemical manufacturing corporation (COCC). While the lease initially was for the sole purpose of allowing COCC to store raw materials and finished products in a warehouse on the land, COCC later expanded its business to include the brokering and recycling of chemical waste generated by third parties. COCC’s owners subsequently formed a new corporation, South Carolina Recycling and Disposal, Inc. (SCRDI), for the purpose of taking over COCC’s waste-handling business. The site owners accepted rent from SCRDI. The waste stored at Bluff Road contained many chemical substances that federal law defines as hazardous.

Subsequently, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that the site was a major fire hazard. The federal government contracted with a third party to perform a partial cleanup of the site. The state of South Carolina completed the cleanup. The federal government and the state sued SCRDI, COCC, the site owners, and three third-party generators as responsible parties under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Explain whether the federal government and the state of South Carolina will prevail.