KINIGSTEIN, TERRY, Fairfield & Strauss, Ventura, CA

ABSTRACT: Contamination Suits: Making the Most of a Bad Situation

Property owners are being held increasingly accountable for contamination of soil and groundwater arising from the operations of businesses which occupy their property. The accountability often arises from federal, state, and local regulatory activity. When owners and operators decide that they should, or must, clean up contamination, they often turn to the business entities that occupied their property and caused or contributed to the contamination. These businesses often resist any effort to hold them accountable and thus cause an expenditure, for them as well as the property owners, of enormous amounts of time, money, and energy.

This presentation will discuss a typical case study involving a "cleanup" dispute between a property owner and its former tenants, including efforts by the tenants to avoid both legal and financial responsibility as well as publicity. In addition to discussion of the substantial expenditures involved in litigation, there will be constructive suggestions on how the business owner can (1) minimize its litigation expense, (2) minimize its liability for costs of cleanup, and (3) maximize the public relations value of the situation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90992©1993 AAPG Pacific Section Meeting, Long Beach, California, May 5-7, 1993.