ESG Essentials: What You Need To Know Now - Episode 18 - The Reshaping of ESG & DEI
Environmental Agencies, Superfund Cleanups, and Managing Enforcement Actions
Drinking Water on Tap: Money, Morality, and More with Tracy Mehan from the American Water Works Association - Reflections on Water Podcast
Because the risks posed by superfund sites pale in comparison to the risks posed by air pollution and broader water pollution issues regulated under the Clean Water Act, I have been and remain deeply skeptical of the Trump...more
On May 12, 2025, the Sixth Circuit issued a published decision in Georgia-Pacific Consumer Prods. LP, et al. v. NCR Corp. finding that a party previously found liable under CERCLA Section 107 is not entitled to declaratory...more
In recent years, states and municipalities have attempted to hold fossil fuel companies liable for their alleged impacts on climate change. Numerous states and municipalities have sued fossil fuel companies, alleging that...more
The U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits against New York and several other states, challenging their newly enacted state Superfund laws (Superfund lawsuits). The laws aim to address the environmental damages attributed...more
On February 6, 2025, twenty-two states and four energy industry organizations and businesses filed a lawsuit challenging New York’s “climate superfund” law. This law, signed on December 26, 2024 by New York Governor Kathy...more
As climate adaptation and mitigation costs escalate, a wave of state climate superfund legislation is emerging across the United States. This novel approach to climate accountability, pioneered by Vermont and New York,...more
On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law S02129B, also known as the New York Climate Change Superfund Act (Act). This law is modeled after the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
This week, Inside EPA (subscription required) ran a story indicating that EPA is trying to figure out how to juggle some increasingly expensive cleanups with shortfalls in Superfund tax revenue. The story notes that EPA is...more
Earlier this month, United States District Court Judge Stephen Wilson held that NL Industries was not liable under CERCLA for air emissions of lead because such emissions did not constitute “disposal” within the meaning of...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) addressed in a January 31st Opinion a dispute between two Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“Superfund or...more
On May 25th, Massachusetts filed suit against a number of companies alleged to have manufactured PFAS and/or aqueous film-forming foam. Massachusetts joins a number of other states which have already brought similar...more
I undertook an Arkansas Environmental Federation webinar held by the organization’s Land and Sustainability Committee on May 20th titled: Solid and Hazardous Waste/Recycling Administrative/Judicial Developments: 2020-2021...more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that only settlements that explicitly resolve liability under CERCLA trigger the contribution provisions of section 113 of CERCLA. I have previously commented on the Court’s tendency to...more
The rhetoric of enforcement under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601-75, plays well in public. The government seeks “cleanup” and makes “the polluter pay.”...more
Last week, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts released a study titled “The high persistence of PFAS is sufficient for their management as a chemical class.” The title is one of the two big takeaways from the...more
Lawsuits present major liability risks to PFAS manufacturers and industries that historically used PFAS in their operations. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS) are synthetic, human-made compounds that were...more
I know that pointing out CERCLA’s stupidity has something of a dog bites man quality, but sometimes Superfund’s stupidity bears repeating. Today’s exhibit? New York v. Next Millenium Realty, in which Judge Feuerstein held –...more