ABSTRACT
This chapter presents problems and issues associated with the Superfund program as they apply to potentially responsible parties. The original law was intended that Environmental Protection Agency would recover costs from potentially responsible parties, industries that generated or handled the waste or owned or operated the site. Ideally the decision, of what type of cleanup action is required, is a purely technical decision made within the constraints of the Superfund law. The search for additional parties is a time consuming and expensive process involving record searches, interviews with and former employees of generator and transporter companies and analysis of the waste. The court held that the liability of the company continued with the contaminated soil to the second site, thus supporting the thesis that the generator is responsible for the hazardous waste until its ultimate destruction. The insurance underwriter who provided general comprehensive liability at any time in the process may be responsible for both legal and clean up costs.
