PODCAST: Revolutionizing CERCLA Liability: What the Supreme Court's Burlington Northern Decision Means for Potentially Liable Parties

On May 4, 2009, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that is of great interest to anyone who deals with the world of Superfund or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). In what many regard as one of the most important CERCLA opinions ever issued, the Court narrowed both the extent of CERCLA "arranger" liability and the ability of the government to hold certain liable parties "jointly and severally" liable for the entire costs of cleaning up a site. The decision dealt severe blows to longstanding government legal and enforcement positions.

On June 4, 2009, Arnold & Porter hosted a Regulatory Roundtable in our New York office. Before an invited audience, senior counsel (and Columbia Law School Professor) Michael Gerrard moderated a discussion. On the panel were Arnold & Porter partners Michael Daneker and Joel Gross, along with Walter Mugdan of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The discussion is 1 hour 15 minutes long.