A federal court found there were triable issues if a purchaser qualified as a bona fide prospective purchaser (BFPP) because of alleged flaws in a phase 1 environmental site assessment. In Stratus Redtail Ranch LLC v. IBM, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8723 (D. Col. 1/18/22), the plaintiff had acquired a 290-acre parcel of agricultural land […]
Some of the more interesting CERCLA cases involve lawsuits between current and former property owners. Usually, the current owner assumes it qualifies as bona fide prospective purchaser (BFPP) or for the Innocent Landowner (ILO) Defense and sues the defendant/former owner for cost recovery. The defendant/former owner invariably files counterclaims alleging the current owner/plaintiff is not
In February 2024, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) updated the decision matrices to its “Guidance for Evaluating Soil Vapor Intrusion in the State of New York” (” VI Guidance) to include 13 volatile petroleum compounds . Previously, the NYSDOH decision matrices only assessed potential human health risks for contaminated vapors associated with
NYSDOH Revises Vapor Intrusion Guidance to Add Volatile Petroleum Compounds Read More »
The Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has long struggled with interpreting the scope of CERCLA liability, often issuing poorly-reasoned and inconsistent decisions. This trend continued with its recent opinion in Von Duprin vs Moran Electric Service, Inc., et al, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 26726 (7th Cir. 9/3/2021) where the court issued a number
A property owner failed in its bid to qualify as a CERCLA bona fide prospective purchaser because its phase 1 did not contain the environmental professional certification required by the section 40 C.F.R. § 312.21(d) of EPA’s All Appropriate Inquires (AAI) rule. In Von Duprin LLC v. Major Holdings, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 26726 (7th
Property Owner Fails to Qualify as BFPP Because Phase 1 Did Not Contain EP Certification Read More »
The New York City Office of Environmental Remediation released an update to its Searchable Property Environmental E-Database (SPEED 2.0) environmental mapping tool in April. SPEED is a useful due diligence tool that allows users to obtain environmental information at a city, borough, neighborhood or site level. All of SPEED’s data is regularly updated to provide
OER Launches Revised Searchable Property Environmental E-Database (SPEED 2.0) Read More »
The Ohio EPA Division of Environmental Response and Revitalization’s (DERR) issued revised vapor intrusion Guidance. The document was developed using established guidance from the United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Interstate Technology Resource Council (ITRC), American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), and other states. The agency gave a special thanks to the
Ohio Revises Vapor Intrusion Guidance Read More »
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the State Water Resources Control Board have issued draft supplemental Vapor Intrusion guidance. The draft “Draft Supplemental Guidance: Screening and Evaluating Vapor Intrusion” was released for review and public comment on February 14, 2020. However, because of the Covid-19 public health emergency, the public comment period is
California Proposes Revisions To Vapor Intrusion Guidance Read More »
In our post discussing EPA’s Enforcement Discretion guidance, we mentioned that EPA was working on guidance for performing remedial actions during the Covid-19 crisis. On April 10th, EPA issued its “Interim Guidance on Site Field Work Decisions Due to Impacts of COVID-19” (Interim Guidance) to regional offices when determining to continue, reduce, or pause on-site
EPA Issues Guidance For Continuing or Suspending Response Actions During COVID-19 Crisis Read More »
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“NYSDEC”) has received numerous inquiries about issues arising with the execution of Brownfield Cleanup Program (“BCP”) agreements and amendments because of the Covid19 pandemic. In response, the NYSDEC has issued the following guidance: The DYSDEC will grant reasonable extensions of time for the execution of Brownfield Cleanup