Johnson Tiles Pty Ltd v Esso Australia Ltd (No 3)

Johnson Tiles Pty Ltd sought relief against Esso Australia Ltd and others in the Federal Court of Australia, primarily regarding the liability for remediation of contaminated land. The dispute centred on the identification of the responsible party for the contamination of land at the site of a former Esso service station, which was sold to Johnson Tiles Pty Ltd. Johnson Tiles claimed that Esso, as the previous owner and operator of the service station, was liable for the contamination under various statutory provisions and common law principles.

The legal issues before the court included the interpretation of the Commonwealth Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974, the applicable common law principles of nuisance and negligence, and the extent of Esso's liability under those legal frameworks. The court was required to determine whether Esso could be held liable for the contamination despite the intervening sale of the property and whether Esso's actions prior to the sale constituted a sufficient link to the contamination to impose liability.

The court ruled that Esso was not liable for the contamination under the statutory provisions or the common law. The court found that the statutory provisions did not impose retrospective liability on previous owners for contamination occurring after the transfer of the property. Furthermore, the court held that Esso's actions prior to the sale did not establish a sufficient causal link to the contamination to impose common law liability. The court emphasised that the contamination was not foreseeable or an inevitable consequence of Esso's actions, and that Johnson Tiles had not established a duty of care owed by Esso to them.

The Fourteenth Cross-Respondent, the State of Victoria, sought to intervene in the proceedings, but the court dismissed its motion. The State of Victoria was ordered to pay the costs of the respondents of and incidental to the motion.