Toxic Torts

Read Zoning, Planning & Land Use updates, news, and legal analysis from leading lawyers and law firms:

News & Analysis as of June 19, 2013

EPA’s New "Institutional Controls" Guidance May Raise Issues in Cleanups and Transactions

by Sheila Harvey, Peter Wyckoff, Reza Zarghamee | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 6/7/2013

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued two guidelines with far-reaching implications for real estate transactions involving contaminated sites, including sites owned by the Department of Defense. The...more

Fourth Circuit Brownfields Decision Stops Short Of Worst-Case Outcome

by Todd Fracassi, Jane Luxton | Pepper Hamilton LLP on 4/17/2013

In a closely watched Superfund case decided April 4, 2013, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the scope of landowner liability protections Congress put in place in 2002 to "promote the cleanup and reuse of...more

EPA Lifts Threat of CERCLA Liability for Some Tenants of Brownfields

by Thomas Hogan, Christopher Marraro | BakerHostetler on 2/18/2013

Tenants who lease currently or formerly contaminated property can now benefit from protections from cleanup liability that were once available only to purchasers of such property. EPA announced its new policy in a December...more

Brownfield Tenants Gain CERCLA Liability Protection

by Bruce Flushman | Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP on 1/15/2013

Good News: Brownfield Tenants Gain CERCLA Liability Protection - In December 2012, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidance Memo set out a new EPA enforcement policy. In sum, on a discretionary basis, the EPA...more

EPA Guidance Further Clarifies The Protections Available To Tenants Under Superfund’s BFPP Defense

by Ronald Farley | Burr & Forman on 1/11/2013

As part of an evolving effort to encourage the redevelopment of brownfield properties, the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or “Superfund”) was amended in 2002 to provide...more

Settling Water-Based Superfund Liabilities -- A Toxic Brew

by Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 10/11/2012

In a poignant moment in Godfather III, Al Pacino’s character says: “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in”. EPA's recent eye-popping announcement of a $366 million encore settlement by AVX with respect to the...more

Lang Michener - Real Estate Brief - Spring 2008

by Lang Michener LLP on 5/1/2008

In This Issue: The Ontario Brownfields legislation is designed to encourage development of properties that are contaminated or are perceived to be contaminated by reason of prior use. Annie Thuan reviews some recent and...more