Related Practices
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It has been thirty years since Congress first passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA” or “Superfund”). Our lawyers were involved in the legislative development of the law and have been involved ever since. Firm lawyers have represented clients in scores of leading Superfund cases across the country, gaining extensive expertise in negotiation of consent decrees, voluntary allocation agreements, remedy selection, and litigation of public and private claims for response costs. We have represented numerous clients undertaking cleanup without litigation, through voluntary effort or through consent agreements or arrangements, whether under CERCLA, the corrective action provisions of RCRA or under state regimes. We have been at the forefront of the development of the law and two of our lawyers are authors of the treatise, Superfund Law and Procedure (West Publishing Co. 2005).
As regulators continue to identify new chemicals of concern and lower detection limits and levels of clean up, there will continue to be enforcement actions and private litigation. We represent clients that face such continuing risks. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Burlington Northern provides a stronger base for defending against joint and several liability than previously recognized by many courts, potentially changing the dynamic of Superfund litigation and negotiation.
We are seeing renewed focus on natural resource damage claims brought by governmental officials and Indian tribes allegedly resulting from releases of hazardous substances to the environment. In such suits, trustees may claim damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars based on the cost of “restoration” and compensation to the public for “lost use.” We helped represent Exxon to negotiate a resolution of natural resource damage claims in Prince William Sound. We have represented clients in rule-making comments and appellate challenges to federal rules addressing assessment of natural resource damages. We have represented companies in the defense of suits by public trustees to recover natural resource damages at various sites, including one of the few cases to go to trial on NRD issues.
Representative Matters
- Litigation concerning cleanup and NRD matters at the Coeur d’Alene site in Idaho.
- Litigation concerning NRD and representation concerning remedy selection and implementation at the Blackbird Mine in Idaho.
- Representation of an aerospace company at its 5,000 acre Superfund site in California, including negotiating a consent decree for completion of investigations, advice on remedy issues, and negotiating with water entities over replacement water supply claims.
- Representation of a major aerospace company in litigation asserting CERCLA and tort claims relating to public park on Long Island.
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