ABSTRACT
New concepts of hazardous waste liability, introduced in the federal Superfund statute, affect many government agency and private business operations: land acquisition, project design and construction; facility operation and maintenance; leases, sales and other dispositions of property; and relations with employees and the public. The landowner can be liable even if the land was bought innocently, not realizing it was contaminated with hazardous waste; even if the activities that contaminated the property were legal at the time; and even if the contaminated land is sold “as is” with full indemnification by the buyer. A buyer should conduct site assessments routinely before property is purchased in order to avoid the project delays and cleanup expenses incurred when waste problems are discovered later in project implementation. A non-polluting landowner’s vulnerability to Superfund liability arises primarily from purchasing land on which contamination exists, or from leasing the property to another who contaminates it.
