Company: ACTG
Filing Date: 2025-03-17
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000934549-25-000004
Chunk: 39

Company: ACACIA RESEARCH CORP
Filing Date: 2025-03-17
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 39
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 laws and regulations and claims for damages to property or persons resulting from oil and natural gas production could result in substantial costs and liabilities to us.

14

Solid and Hazardous Waste.   Benchmark currently owns or leases, and has in the past owned or leased, numerous properties that were used for the production of oil and natural gas for many years. Although operating and disposal practices that were standard in the industry at the time may have been utilized, it is possible that hydrocarbons or other wastes may have been disposed of or released on or under the properties currently owned or leased by Benchmark. State and federal laws applicable to oil and gas wastes and properties have become stricter over time. Under these increasingly stringent requirements, Benchmark could be required to remove or remediate previously disposed wastes (including wastes disposed or released by prior owners and operators), clean up contamination (including groundwater contamination by prior owners or operators) or perform plugging operations to prevent future contamination.

Benchmark generates some wastes that are hazardous wastes subject to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (the “RCRA”) and comparable state statutes, as well as wastes that are exempt from such regulation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) limits the disposal options for certain hazardous wastes. It is possible that certain wastes currently exempt from regulation as hazardous wastes may in the future be designated as hazardous wastes under RCRA or other applicable statutes. In the future, our Energy Operations Business could be subject to more rigorous and costly disposal requirements than we encounter today.

Superfund.   The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), also known as the “Superfund” law, and comparable state laws and regulations impose liability, without regard to fault or the legality of the original conduct, on certain persons with respect to the release of hazardous substances into the environment. These persons include the current and past owners and operators of a site where the release occurred and any party that treated or disposed of or arranged for the treatment or disposal of hazardous substances found at a site. Under CERCLA, such persons may be subject to joint and several strict liability for the costs of cleaning up the hazardous substances that have been released into the environment, for damages to natural resources and for the costs of certain health studies. CERCLA also authorizes the EPA, and in some cases, private parties, to undertake actions to clean up such hazardous substances, or to recover the costs of such actions from the responsible parties. In addition, it is not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for