EPA has published a notice in the federal register proposing that the E1527-13 will satisfy the All Appropriate Inquiries. EPA believes (mistakenly in our opinion) the proposed action is non-controversial. However, just in case the agency published a final direct rule and a proposed rule . If EPA does not receive adverse comments by September […]
EPA Proposes to Approve E1527-13 As AAI Read More »
We have previously discussed the series of district court rulings in Voggenthaler v Maryland Square LLC where homeowners and the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP) sued past and former owners of a shopping center and operators of a former dry cleaner because of a mile-long groundwater plume resulting from PCE spills from the dry cleaner
Southern Wine & Spirits of New York vs. Impact Environmental Consultants, 2013 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2081(App. Div.-1st Dept 3/28/13) involves a common source of contamination in Long Island and other suburban areas of New York City-dry wells and septic systems. The parties have yet to begin discovery but based on the motion papers filed
When hiring an environmental consultant, clients are often asked to execute an engagement letter that typically addresses the pricing for the Phase 1 and other logistical information. Attached to the engagement letter will be what often looks like a pre-printed form of terms and conditions that govern the performance of the services to be provided
Mass Ct Rules Contractual Limitation Period Unenforceable Read More »
A South Carolina appeals court affirmed a jury verdict that a seller of a 239-acre golf course in Blythewood, South Carolina had breached an environmental indemnity but reduced the damages award by the jury in Ginn-LA University Club Ltd. v. Amelia Capital III, LLC,2013 S.C. App. Unpub. LEXIS 95 (Ct. App. 2/13/13). In this case,
SC Appeals Ct Affirms Judgment To Golf Course Developer But Reduces Damages Award Read More »
We previously discussed the RCRA lawsuit filed by a bank that had foreclosed on a residential property that turned out to be impacted by contamination from an adjacent dry cleaner in Forest Park National Bank v Ditchfield. The bank had alleged that vapors migrating from the contaminated groundwater and soil constituted an imminent and substantial endangerment
Dry Cleaner Settles Foreclosing Lender RCRA Action Read More »
The brownfield reforms that swept the country in the 1990s created new tools for developers of contaminated sites to help minimize their liability. Some of the reforms like the CERCLA Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser (BFPP) liability protection are self-implementing while others such as prospective purchaser agreements, covenants not to sue or letters stating that the developer
Ct Says NJ Brownfield Agreement Not Enough to Establish Innocent Party Status Read More »
During the early years of New Jersey’s remediation program, challenging decisions of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) bordered on Quixotic mission. Times have changed, though, and courts are no longer intimated by NJDEP and we have discussed a number of cases where courts have overruled the agency’s decisions. See dry cleaner case and
NJ Ct. Vacates NJDEP Denial of Innocent Party Grant Read More »
We have previously discussed the complex litigation involving a planned development on a portion of a World War 2 bombing range in Louisiana . In the latest installment of this saga, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice claim filed against bond counsel in Coves of the Highland Community
A statute of limitation (SOL) establishes the maximum time period for filing certain civil and criminal actions. The purpose of an SOL is to allow legal claims to be resolved within a reasonable amount of time while at the same time preventing fraudulent and stale claims after evidence has been lost or after the facts
NY Ct Says Contaminants Below MCL May Trigger SOL Read More »