Trends and Solutions in Hazardous‐Waste Cleanups

Abstract

The number of cleanup sites is growing. Federal, state and private cleanups must be undertaken. Impediments to hazardous‐waste construction such as fear of liability, lack of insurance, and lack of direction, are identified. The perils of cleaning up hazardous wastes are examined. Engineer and contractor liability for cleanup of hazardous wastes, the concept of joint and several liability, and the operation of statutes of limitation and repose are discussed. The variations in statutes of limitation for toxic torts are identified, by state. Reasons for the loss of insurance coverage are given. Insurers believe that liabilities thrust upon them were not contemplated when they entered into their insurance contracts. Insurers, rather than face additional losses because of judicial activism, have withdrawn from the field, leaving engineers and contractors without protection. Strategies in use, such as risk‐transfer ploys, self‐insuring, governmental indemnification, expendable subsidiaries, and going bare, are analyzed. After considering the causes of the problems, several solutions, including two Utopian ones that bypass the tort system and eliminate the tort system, are proposed.