Natural Resource Damages Claims

MGKF represents numerous clients in the defense of federal and state natural resource damage ("NRD") claims arising from contaminated groundwater, wetlands, surface water, and soils.

NRD claims are pursued by federal and state trustee agencies and/or tribal governments under various statutes including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act; Clean Water Act; Oil Pollution Act; and similar state statutes such as New Jersey's Spill Compensation and Control Act ("Spill Act"). These highly politicized actions involve complex legal and technical issues requiring creative and effective strategies to challenge the nature, scope, and extent of the NRD claims asserted.

Our NRD team has helped clients negotiate and resolve potential NRD liability at many sites and has been involved in over a dozen lawsuits brought by the State of New Jersey seeking natural resource damages for injury to groundwater pursuant to the Spill Act and common-law claims. While the law and science of NRDs are still evolving, our NRD team is well positioned to defend these claims in this uncertain environment. Our NRD litigation experience includes the following representative matters:

• The firm defended a publicly traded real estate investment trust in several actions alleging natural resource damage claims arising out of the company's ownership and/or leasehold interest in gasoline service stations.
• We represented an international chemical company in actions seeking natural resource damages arising out of the company's alleged disposal of waste at landfills subject to ongoing remediation.
• MGKF defended a commercial property tenant in an action brought by a third-party plaintiff seeking contribution for alleged natural resource damages to groundwater.
• We represented the primary NRD defendant in an action where the government sought more than 800 acres of land in compensation for alleged natural resource damages.