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Reducing cleanup-related expenses by $23 million A Fortune 100 insurance and investment company purchased property in Florida. All appropriate due diligence was performed and there was no reason to believe that the property was contaminated. Subsurface contamination was later discovered, and the property was designated a federal Superfund site. Costs of cleanup (and client's potential exposure) were estimated by the federal government at $25 million. Our goal was to identify the parties actually responsible for causing the contamination, delineate the precise location and extent of contamination, and negotiate the best possible resolution with federal, state and local environmental regulatory agencies, while preserving any potential action to recover costs from appropriate parties. We assembled a team of client, consultants and our environmental attorneys to map strategy. Through cautious cooperation and intense negotiations with agencies, we quickly established a lead agency and the relationship necessary to foster a reasonable settlement of the regulatory enforcement process. This allowed resources to be better allocated elsewhere to resolve the overall problem. We identified the parties actually responsible for causing the contamination, and worked closely with environmental scientists to precisely determine the extent of contamination, identify the likely sources, and establish measures to minimize costs of remediation. Our aim was to complete the necessary assessment and cleanup at lowest practical cost while preserving ability to recover that cost from responsible parties. We were able to negotiate resolution with federal agencies and the Department of Justice to substantially limit our client's liability. We reached agreement with the responsible party to share the costs of remediation. We undertook assessment and cleanup to facilitate later cost recovery. Overall, we reduced the client's potential liability, exposure and remediation costs by over $23 million. | ||
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