Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) appealed a federal court ruling requiring it to pay the majority of costs for remediating the Lower Passaic River, challenging an Environmental Protection Agency consent decree that seeks to settle with other parties for a small fraction of the cleanup costs, leaving the majority of costs to OxyChem. The appeal raises questions about how financial responsibility for decades of industrial pollution should be allocated among numerous parties, and more specifically, how a reviewing court should assess EPA’s allocation of cleanup costs.
Shareholder Steven Miano spoke with NJ Spotlight News about the appeal and the likelihood that the appeals court would overturn the current ruling.
“I would be surprised if the lower court will be found to have been wrong in approving the consent decree,” Steve said. “EPA is typically fairly careful in taking positions on allocations in CDs [consent decrees]. It has a good track record on having such CDs approved. However, it remains to be seen how the Third Circuit analyzes this case and whether it will delve into the underlying facts.”
