Hazardous Waste Cleanup, Liability, and Litigation

This practical book guides the reader through Superfund Law. Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which established a national program for cleaning up the nation's abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Superfund changed the way the United States conducts business by imposing substantial liability on present and past owners and operators of contaminated sites and on generators and transporters of hazardous substances to those sites. By examining the Superfund liability scheme, Fogleman provides businesses and individuals with the necessary knowledge to aid in avoiding Superfund liability. She provides a road map through the Superfund program, the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement and settlement procedures, and Superfund litigation. After reviewing the legislative history of Superfund and its amendments, Valerie M. Fogleman examines the Superfund program from discovery of a contaminated site through its cleanup. She describes the EPA's enforcement and settlement procedures, and Superfund litigation by governmental and nongovernmental entities. Fogleman analyzes Superfund liability and defenses to liability of persons and entities that are potentially responsible for conducting or bearing the cost of cleanups and damages to natural resources. These potentially responsible parties include almost all persons and entities in the American business community including corporations, corporate officers, directors, and employees, lenders, and governmental entities. This book is an important resource for lawyers and businessmen who seek a one-volume comprehensive and practical guide to Superfund law and liability.