Confusing, Complex Superfund Law Still Helping Environmental Lawyers Clean Up
Decades after their initial enactment, confusing and complex environmental statutes such as the Superfund law are still helping lawyers clean up.
Superfund litigation was aided by a $600 million allocation under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last year. And the Superfund law (officially, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) remains at issue, too, as potentially liable parties argue over the hundreds of contaminated sites still awaiting remediation, Greenwire reports.
Likely to be an increasing focus in the future are claims over damage to natural resources, such as rivers, says partner William Hyatt of the Newark, N.J., office of K&L Gates, who calls such claims the “sleeping giant” of the Superfund law.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com (May 2009): “High Court Holds Chemical Supplier Not Liable for Pollution Cleanup”
ABAJournal.com (April 2010): “Man Bites Dog: Exxon Sues US in Superfund Case, Seeks $45M for Toxic Site Cleanup”
