LSI 2010 NRD Santa Fe final conference binder 072110.pdf

Sheri L. Moreno of General Electric Company Speaker 15: 3
Remedy-Caused Impacts and NRD
• Trustees have already advised GE that they intend to seek damages for
remedy-caused injuries to Hudson River natural resources
• Whether such damages are recoverable is not well settled
• No case law addressing this issue
• Section 107 of CERCLA is general – “trustee may recover for injury
to, destruction, or loss of natural resources, including reasonable costs
of assessment, resulting from such a release of hazardous substances”
• Type B Regulations not tested or interpreted by courts; Provide that
trustees may recover NRD for “any increase in injuries that are
reasonably unavoidable as a result of response actions taken or
anticipated.”
• Fact Question – Has there been an increase in “injuries” and were
they “reasonably unavoidable”
Phase 1: What EPA Sought to Accomplish
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• Removal of 265,000 cubic yards of sediment from 18 dredge areas
• Removal of 89,000 cubic yards of sediment during one 30-day period (to ensure
project is completed in six years)
• PCB water levels below 500 parts per trillion during dredging (the federal drinking
water standard)
• PCB mass released downstream during dredging not to exceed 117 kg (258 pounds)
— the tipping point at which the benefits of the selected remedy are outweighed by
the short-term adverse impacts
• PCB levels on the surface of the river bottom post-dredging are below an average of
0.25 parts per million
EPA’s Goals: To Reduce PCB Levels in Water, in Fish,
in Sediment and Flowing Downstream
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Law Seminars International | Natural Resource Damages | 07/15/10 in Santa Fe, NM