Gould Electronics and an insurance company settled a toxic tort lawsuit involving pollution from a battery plant. They then sued the U.S. Army (which designed and operated the plant) for contribution to their settlement costs. The court ruled that under federal law, the Army must share costs fairly with them (contribution), but cannot be forced to cover their entire liability (indemnification). This matters because it limits how much you can shift costs to other responsible parties.
Contribution claims (splitting costs fairly) are stronger than indemnification claims (one party paying everything) when multiple parties share responsibility for environmental damage