Superfund and Hazardous Waste

We have practiced under the Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA) since the law was enacted in 1980, representing clients in connection with all aspects of that law, including:

• Counseling potentially responsible parties at numerous National Priority List sites.
• Defending against cost recovery actions, unilateral administrative orders, judicial enforcement, and claims for natural resource damages, while successfully pursuing pioneering theories of government liability.
• Designing cost allocations in litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and negotiated settlements, such as in City of North Miami v. Berger, 820 F. Supp. 989 and 828 F. Supp. 401 (E.D. Va. 1993).
• Representing owners and developers on brownfields redevelopment projects in negotiations with EPA and state and local agencies.

We have also counseled and defended clients in a broad range of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) enforcement and compliance matters, including:

• Negotiating favorable settlement terms to resolve citizen suit claims of “imminent and substantial endangerment” for alleged lagoon leakage. Sierra Club v. Seaboard Farms, Inc., et al., No. CIV-00-997-C (W.D. Okla.) (consent decree lodged Dec. 20, 2002).
• Obtaining summary judgment dismissal of RCRA hazardous waste disposal and “imminent and substantial endangerment” claims. Friends of Santa Fe County
  v. Lac Minerals, 892 F. Supp. 1333 (D.N.M. 1995).
• Persuading a federal court to vacate a RCRA consent decree and refund a penalty with interest because of “extraordinary” misconduct by EPA. United States v. Envirite Corp., 143 F.R.D. 27 (D. Conn. 1991).
• Counseling on all aspects of regulation under RCRA and corresponding state laws, including permitting, recycling projects, delisting, and rulemaking.