Opinion ID: 4565249
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: EPA Involvement and Remediation

Text: In 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) added the Site to the CERCLA National Priorities List, targeting it for environmental remediation. The primary environmental concern at the Site was arsenic contamination of the groundwater. In the years that followed, Asarco entered into a series of agreements with the EPA to begin the process of remediation. In 1990, Asarco and the EPA finalized a settlement agreement and consent decree in CERCLA litigation concerning the contamination of the process ponds at the Site. Pursuant to the consent decree, Asarco agreed to undertake a cleanup of the process ponds, which it substantially completed by 1997. 6 ASARCO V. ATLANTIC RICHFIELD In 1998, Asarco and the EPA entered into another settlement agreement and consent decree, this time resolving claims brought by the EPA under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Clean Water Act. The settlement did not raise any claims under CERCLA. On August 9, 2005, Asarco filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. In connection with the bankruptcy proceedings, the United States, the State of Montana, and the State of Montana Department of Environmental Quality all filed proofs of claim for Asarco’s projected liability under CERCLA. Asarco, the United States, and the State of Montana reached two complementary settlement agreements and consent decrees in February and June 2009, resolving Asarco’s outstanding environmental liabilities at several Montana sites, including the Site at issue in this case. The June 2009 consent decree established a custodial trust for the affected sites, and the Montana Environmental Trust Group (“METG”) was appointed as the custodial trustee for the East Helena Site. The June 2009 consent decree also designated the EPA as the lead agency for the Site, placing it in charge of selecting, approving, and authorizing all work performed and funds expended by METG. Pursuant to the June 2009 consent decree, Asarco paid approximately $111.4 million 1 for cleanup of the East Helena Site—accounting for comprehensive damage done to the Site by all responsible parties. That sum included: (a) $99.294 million into the East Helena Custodial Trust 1 In total, Asarco paid $1.8 billion to settle environmental claims related to hazardous waste in the bankruptcy proceedings. ASARCO V. ATLANTIC RICHFIELD 7 Cleanup Account for a groundwater remedy; 2 (b) $6,403,743 toward the establishment of the Custodial Trust and the funding of the Custodial Administrative Account to be used for trust administration expenses; (c) $706,000 to the U.S. Department of the Interior for natural resource restoration and future oversight costs for the Site; and (d) $5 million to the State of Montana for compensatory natural resource damages at the Site. METG has begun its remediation work at the Site. So far, it has fully implemented three interim measures to curb the spread of contaminants and further environmental degradation at the Site. METG also has implemented institutional controls for the Site and the surrounding areas, designed to prevent property owners from using their domestic water wells to avoid contact with contaminated groundwater. METG proposes one additional future project: capping the portion of the slag pile at the Site that consists of unfumed slag. METG has not instated and does not plan to install a pump-and-treat system. As of the most recent accounting available, METG had spent a little less than half of the trust funds at its disposal, leaving it with approximately $50 million for further remediation efforts. Atlantic Richfield’s expert estimated the ongoing costs for operations and maintenance at $9.2 million, and METG estimated the cost of covering the unfumed slag at $3.7 million. Adding those sums to the dollar amount already expended by METG, the total cleanup cost for the Site would approximate $61.4 million. Asarco contends that Atlantic Richfield’s expert vastly understates 2 This figure was based on estimates for a pump-and-treat system recommended by the State of Montana’s experts, William Bucher and Ann Maest. 8 ASARCO V. ATLANTIC RICHFIELD how costly the cleanup would be. Asarco’s expert opined that METG’s proposed remedies would be insufficient to address the groundwater contamination and that more substantial remediation work would be necessary.