CERCLA
CERCLA or Superfund practice requires that we address issues on behalf of our clients that include:
- Communicating with Federal and State Agencies
- Preparing and Coordinating Responses to 104(e) Requests
- Responding to 106 Unilateral Orders
- Responding to and Defending Against 107(a) Cost Recovery Actions
- Assembling and Organizing PRP Groups and Committees
- Negotiating Consent Orders
- Interviewing/Hiring Firms for Site Investigation and Remediation
- Identifying Additional PRPs
- Negotiating and/or Litigating Shares of Recalcitrant Parties
- Negotiating and Allocating Costs and Expenses Among Participating PRPs
CERCLA (Superfund) matters in which the firm has or attorneys with the firm have been involved include the following:
- Defense attorney on behalf of a large auto recycling complex in a CERCLA cost recovery action brought by the USEPA.
- Defense attorney in a CERCLA citizen’s suit and a toxic tort suit on behalf of a polyethylene manufacturer for a RCRA-exempt product sold to a broker and misused by a purchaser.
- Coordinated a CERCLA private party cleanup action for a chemical blending company
- Coordinated a CERCLA private party cleanup action for a barge cleaning and maintenance facility
- Prepared opinions for a chemical manufacturer on the application of statutes of limitations in CERCLA private party cost recovery actions
- Prepared opinions for a chemical manufacturer on the reporting requirements for releases of flammable gases to the atmosphere
The Superfund program’s purpose is to address threats to human health or the environment that could result from releases or potential releases of hazardous substances from uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites. The agency that has the primary responsibility for managing activities under the Superfund program the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Superfund program is one of the nation’s most complex and ambitious environmental programs. The number of sites targeted and actions taken by the Superfund program is substantial.
The Superfund program was launched by CERCLA’s passage in 1980 . This Act gave the Federal government authority to force the responsible party or take direct action to respond to emergencies involving uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances.
CERCLA created a Trust Fund, or “Superfund,” of $1.6 billion to pay for Federal response actions. This Trust Fund was financed primarily with a tax on 42 commercially-used chemicals and crude oil.
On October 17, 1986, Congress passed amendments to CERCLA called SARA or the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. SARA made several important additions and changes to the Superfund Program that expanded and strengthened the cleanup program. SARA refined the financing and increased the size of the CERCLA Trust Fund to $8.5 billion. SARA also stresses using and developing permanent remedies. In addition, SARA provides new settlement tools and enforcement authorities, increasing State involvement in the Superfund process and requiring changes in the system used to determine which sites should be addressed.