A federal court ruling out of California could inject a new line of litigation in the already contentious world of cleaning up with country’s most contaminated sites.
The ruling by Judge William Shubb of the Eastern District of California holds that state government agencies can be targeted as potentially responsible for the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (aka Superfund).
Law blogs are abuzz trying to decipher the potential ramifications of the ruling, which seems to suggest that regulators could bear some responsibility for cleaning up the messes left by generations of industrial users.