The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (aka Superfund), Guam had filed its lawsuit to recover a portion of cleanup costs for the landfill from the United States government in a timely manner, allowing their case to proceed.

As part of establishing ports and bases on the island, the Navy created the Ordot Dump landfill for disposal of waste, including material like DDT and Agent Orange.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the Ordot Dump to the National Priorities List in 1983 and had named the Navy as a potentially responsible party to it in 1988.

[5][1] Guam petitioned their case to the Supreme Court, asking them to resolve the question of whether Section 113(f)(3)(B)'s three-year statute applied to the consent agreement they had made with the EPA.

[8] The decision has a potential impact on a number of pending lawsuits filed by states and local entities against the U.S. government and large companies to try to seek some recovery for the costs for cleanup of Superfund sites, as these suits had followed similar patterns of interaction between Guam and the EPA.