LSI 2010 NRD Santa Fe final conference binder 072110.pdf

Angus Macbeth of Sidley Austin LLP Speaker 24b: 12
$865,000. During negotiations, Sunoco performed all necessary remedial and preventive
measures, funded assessment of natural resource damages, and performed restoration measures
at the Refuge to restore and replace the damaged resources.
Equinox Oil Co.: The United States and the state of Louisiana settled a claim in bankruptcy
under which the successor in interest, Elysium Energy, L.L.C. agreed to pay $1.2 million to
resolve NRD claims arising from a well blowout that discharged oil into the waters of Lake
Grand Ecaille in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The settlement included the costs to implement
restoration projects on property located near the location of the oil spill, past assessment costs,
and estimated future restoration costs. The Coast Guard’s removal costs were previously paid. 24
b. CERCLA
Kerr-McGee: Kerr-McGee Chemical, Inc. agreed to perform remedial action and natural
resource restoration work valued at $74 million, pay $6 million for past costs, reimburse all
future costs for non-oversight activities, and pay $1.685 million for oversight costs at its West
Chicago Site.
Morning Star Mine Site: Vanderbilt Gold Corp. (“VGC”) and Mineral, Metal & Mining
Management Co. (“4EM”) agreed to perform a removal action; reimburse DOI, over time, for
approximately $1 million in past response costs; pay DOI’s future response costs; and pay $1
million, over time, into DOI’s NRDAR fund to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of Park
System resources injured by VGC. The site is an inactive open pit mine located in the Mojave
National Preserve. 25
7. 2006 26
In 2006, the United States secured NRD settlements worth over $33 million in matters including
U.S. v. Schlumberger Technology Corp. ($11,960,000 payment to DOI’s Assessment and
Restoration Fund and $537,501 to reimburse the Trustees for past costs and future costs to be
incurred; completion of removal of two dams on Twelvemile Creek as restoration project), 27 U.S.
v. Elkem Metals Co., U.S. v. Sunoco, Inc., U.S. v. American Energy, Inc. and U.S. v. BP Amoco
Chemical Co. The states of South Carolina and Georgia joined the United States as co-plaintiffs
in Schlumberger; Ohio and West Virginia were co-plaintiffs in Elkem Metals, Kentucky was a
co-plaintiff in Sunoco, and Texas was a co-plaintiff in the case against BP Amoco. Restoration
activities included the removal of two dams, dredging PCB contaminated sediments behind the
dams, and improving the stream corridor leading to Lake Hartwell in South Carolina
(Schlumberger); the restoration of mussels, fish, and snails damaged by releases of hazardous
substances to the Ohio River (Elkem); the preservation of at least 100 acres of bottomland
hardwood forest habitat, the re-colonization of 19 acres of former pasture with native vegetation,
24 Fed.Reg. 69586 (11/16/05).
25 70 Fed.Reg. 17469 (4/6/05).
26 United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Fiscal Year 2006 Summary
of Litigation Accomplishments, available at
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Electronic_Reading_Room/ENRD_2006_Accomplishments_Report.pdf.
27 71 Fed.Reg. 6792 (2/9/06).
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Law Seminars International | Natural Resource Damages | 07/16/10 in Santa Fe, NM