Our attorneys have substantial experience representing clients in actions brought under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and Washington’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). Our experience includes cases involving contaminant releases to upland soils, landfills, potable and non-potable aquifers, aquatic lands and sediments, and other environmental media.
We have negotiated and collaborated with government agencies, potentially liable parties, public advocacy groups, insurance carriers, and other stakeholders to reach cost-effective solutions to complicated issues.
A sample of specific representative cases
- ASARCO, et al. v. Cascade Timber, et al. This litigation arose from ASARCO’s marketing of copper reverberatory slag as log sort yard ballast. The cost of remediation was estimated to exceed $100 million. The firm mounted a successful defense against CERCLA liability.
- Queen City Farms v. Maryland Casualty, et al. This CERCLA litigation involved a claim in excess of $10 million for insurance coverage to recover the cost to remediate the dumping of hazardous waste at a local landfill.
- In another matter, a Fortune 500 company brought litigation, including a CERCLA contribution action, in which the firm represented a public utility district. Plaintiff asserted that the PUD and other utility districts were liable due to their disposal of transformers containing PCBs.
- Champion International and St. Regis Paper Company v. Boston Old Colony Insurance Company, et al. The firm represented several defendants in this claim for environmental liability at 86 sites throughout the country.
- United States v. Wallace, et al. The firm represented a party sued by the Environmental Protection Agency for CERCLA contribution at the Northwest Transformer Superfund site.