CERCLA

Revised ASTM Phase 1 Standard To Be Reviewed by EPA

The ASTM task group that is responsible for finalizing the E1527 phase 1 standard has completed its final proof-reading and editorial changes. The revised standard will now go to EPA for approval. If EPA blesses the changes( which we believe it will), the E1527-13 will become the equivalent for complying with the All Appropriate Inquiries […]

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Bank Agrees To Reimburse EPA for Post-Foreclosure Removal Action Costs

We have frequently written on the heightened risks that lenders face when foreclosing or taking control of the property of defaulted borrowers. See Ohio Bank to Reimburse EPA. Despite several high-profile enforcement cases such as the HSBC case in New York that illustrate the potential exposure that lenders face when they take control over a borrower’s

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4th Circuit Hears Oral Argument on Ashley II Case

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral argument in early December on the appeal of the Ashley II of Charleston v PCS Nitrogen decision, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104772 (D.S.C. 9/20/10).  The case involves a 43-acre Columbia Nitrogen Superfund Site in the Upper Peninsula area of Charleston, South Carolina. The

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EPA Revises “Comfort Letters” to Facilitate Renewable Energy Development on Contaminated Sites

EPA has revised its three model letters that may be used by regional offices when drafting site-specific comfort/status letters for lessees involved in renewable energy projects on contaminated property. The letters are intended to provide lessees who are contemplating leasing property for a proposed renewable energy development  and request a comfort/status letter from the EPA. The letters describe the information

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EPA Issues Revised Guidance on Applicability of BFPP Protection To Tenants

EPA issued revised guidance discussing the potential applicability of the CERCLA Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser (BFPP) liability protection to tenants who lease contaminated or formerly contaminated properties. Revised Enforcement Guidance Regarding The treatment of Tenants Under the CERCLA Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Protection. The guidance supersedes EPA’s January 14,2009 guidance titled “Enforcement Discretion Guidance Regarding the Applicability

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Consultant Unable To Escape NJ Contaminated Fill Case

We have previously reported on how disposal of fill material tends not to be well-regulated. During the real estate bubble demand for aggregate was at a premium. Due to the scarcity and cost of aggregate or fill material, contractors often use pulverized construction debris from other construction sites as fill material. Despite the fact that

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PA Bank Agrees to Reimburse EPA For Removal Costs at Owned Property

We have previously discussed how banks can find themselves saddled with environmental liability from bank-owned properties they have acquired when they purchase assets of other banks. See Acquisitions Bring CERCLA Liability to Banks The latest example is In the Matter of Hamburg Mills Creek Superfund Site, Docket No. CERC-03-2013-004 where Wells Fargo agreed to reimburse

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Ohio Bank to Partially Reimburse EPA For Removal Costs Related To Defunct Borrower Facility

An Ohio bank agreed to pay the United States EPA $8K in past response costs incurred by EPA to remove hazardous waste drums at a facility that had been owned by a defunct borrower. The amount the bank agreed to pay represented approximately 10% of the EPA’s response costs. The notice of the proposed Agreement

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NY District Court Misconstrues CERCLA “Facility” Definition

In the 1980s and 1990s, judges usually began CERCLA cases discussing that CERCLA was a remedial statute that Congress intended to be broadly construed. Judges seemed afraid of the problem of toxic wastes and often uncritically accepted government arguments that cast a wide liability net that caught a wide range of defendants. Even in private

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