Environmental Remediation & Cost Recovery Attorney — CA
Cleanup obligations attach to the property and to the people who operated on it. The legal work is establishing who pays, in what shares, and over what period.
Who is responsible for cleaning up contaminated property in California?
Liability can extend to current owners, prior owners who owned during disposal, operators, and parties who arranged for disposal, under both federal CERCLA and California law. Liability is frequently strict and can be joint and several, though parties who pay may pursue contribution from others. Certain innocent landowner and bona fide purchaser defenses exist but require specific pre-purchase diligence.
Cleanup Obligations, Contribution, and Recovery
Environmental cleanup in California proceeds on two tracks at once. On the regulatory track, an agency directs investigation and remediation on a schedule that does not wait for private disputes to resolve. On the private track, the parties allocate who pays, pursue contribution from others who contributed, and seek recovery from historical insurers. Managing both simultaneously — rather than sequentially — is what controls total cost.
The defenses that matter are largely established before acquisition. Innocent landowner and bona fide prospective purchaser protections depend on having conducted appropriate inquiry before purchase and on complying with continuing obligations afterward. A buyer who skipped Phase I diligence generally cannot claim them later, which is why environmental review belongs in transaction diligence rather than in post-closing litigation.
Natural resource damage claims are a separate category, brought by government trustees for injury to resources held in public trust, and assessed differently from cleanup costs. Where multiple parties contributed over decades, mediated allocation usually reaches a workable division faster and far more cheaply than litigating each share.
330 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 1280
Glendale, California 91203
Los Angeles County Superior Court, including the Glendale and Stanley Mosk courthouses.
Enforcement defense, permitting and compliance, hazardous waste, and cleanup cost recovery in California.
Remediation Matters We Handle
For owners, operators, purchasers, and former operators of California property.
Cleanup Order Response
Responding to agency directives for investigation and remediation, negotiating scope, cleanup standards, and schedule.
Cost Recovery & Contribution
Claims to recover incurred costs from other responsible parties under federal and state law, and defense of contribution claims.
Insurance Recovery
Locating and pursuing historical general liability policies that may respond to contamination claims, including multi-period allocation.
Transaction Structuring
Environmental indemnities, escrows and holdbacks, access agreements, and the diligence required to preserve purchaser defenses.
Natural Resource Damages
Trustee claims for injury to resources held in public trust, including assessment methodology and restoration-based resolution.
Closure & Land Use Covenants
Negotiating site closure, no-further-action determinations, and recorded land use covenants that permit redevelopment.
Cleanup Disputes That Reach Our Office
Composite examples drawn from the kinds of matters this practice handles. They illustrate common fact patterns and are not descriptions of specific client cases or predictions of any result.
The Cost Recovery Claim
An owner who has funded years of investigation seeks contribution from former operators. Success depends on operational history, technical apportionment, and locating solvent parties or their insurers.
The Redevelopment Site
A developer plans a residential project on a former industrial parcel. Achieving a closure determination with a recorded land use covenant, on a schedule the financing can support, drives the entire project.
The Purchaser Defense That Failed
A buyer who skipped a Phase I is later named as a responsible party. Without the pre-purchase inquiry, the bona fide prospective purchaser protection is generally unavailable.
When Cleanup Issues Need Counsel
- An agency has directed investigation or remediation at your property.
- You have incurred cleanup costs and others also contributed.
- You have been named as a responsible party or received a contribution demand.
- A transaction involves property with known or suspected contamination.
- You may hold historical insurance policies covering the operating period.
- A trustee has asserted natural resource damage claims.
What to Do First
Document the site history
Ownership, tenancy, and operations by period is the foundation for both defense and contribution claims. Build it early.
Search for old policies
Historical general liability policies frequently respond to contamination claims. Even fragmentary evidence of coverage has value.
Keep the regulatory work moving
Agency deadlines run independently of private allocation disputes. Delay on the regulatory track increases both cost and exposure.
Remediation & Natural Resource Damages — Questions California Clients Ask
What owners, buyers, and operators ask about cleanup responsibility and cost recovery in California.
What is environmental remediation?
Environmental remediation is the process of removing, containing, or treating contamination in soil, groundwater, or surface water to achieve cleanup standards required by regulatory agencies. Remediation obligations can arise from voluntary discovery, enforcement actions, property transactions, and Superfund or state-directed cleanup programs.
What is a Responsible Party under CERCLA?
CERCLA (the federal Superfund law) imposes liability on four categories of potentially responsible parties (PRPs): current owners and operators of a contaminated facility, past owners and operators at the time of disposal, generators who arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances, and transporters who selected the disposal site. CERCLA liability is strict, joint and several, and retroactive.
What is an innocent landowner defense under CERCLA?
CERCLA recognizes the innocent landowner defense for property owners who can demonstrate that they did not know and had no reason to know of contamination at the time of acquisition, and that they conducted appropriate inquiries (all appropriate inquiries or AAI standard under EPA regulations) before purchase. This defense must be established proactively and requires careful documentation.
What is a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment?
A Phase I ESA is a non-invasive investigation of a property's historical uses, surrounding properties, and regulatory databases to identify recognized environmental conditions (RECs) that could indicate contamination. It is the first step in satisfying CERCLA's "all appropriate inquiries" requirement for the innocent landowner defense and is standard practice in commercial real estate due diligence.
What are natural resource damages?
Natural resource damages (NRDs) are compensation claims brought by federal, state, tribal, and local trustees for injuries to natural resources — such as fisheries, wetlands, groundwater, and wildlife — caused by releases of hazardous substances. NRD claims arise under CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, and state law, and can be pursued by government trustees separate from response cost recovery.
How are CERCLA cleanup costs allocated among multiple parties?
CERCLA allows PRPs who have paid more than their fair share of cleanup costs to seek contribution from other responsible parties. Courts consider equitable factors including the volume and toxicity of hazardous substances each PRP contributed, their degree of involvement, their financial benefit, and their involvement in disposal decisions.
What is California's Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL)?
California's HWCL, administered by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), governs the generation, handling, transport, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste in California. It is authorized under RCRA but often imposes additional requirements, and California's list of regulated substances is broader than the federal RCRA list.
What should property owners know about environmental liability before purchasing commercial real estate?
Before completing a commercial property purchase, buyers should conduct Phase I and potentially Phase II environmental due diligence, review any existing regulatory files, evaluate indemnification and representation provisions in the purchase agreement, and consult an environmental attorney about potential CERCLA, state Superfund, and underground storage tank liability. Environmental liability can significantly exceed the property's value.
Local Representation
Los Angeles County cleanup sites are overseen by DTSC and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Talk to an Environmental Attorney
Cleanup exposure is shaped by decisions made before purchase and in the first months of an agency directive. Bring the site history and the correspondence.