Experience
Wastewater Enforcement Defense
Defense of municipality in connection with waste water permit violations from its POTW. Successfully negotiated reduction in civil penalty and consent agreement for return to compliance.
Re-Purchase of Property / PCB Contamination
Negotiated the re-purchase of a commercial property where the seller failed to clean up PCB contamination pursuant to the original purchase contract assigned to our client in the late 1990's.
Defense of Toxic Tort and Environmental Action
Successfully defended several manufacturers in toxic tort litigation and continue to serve as common counsel to over 40 potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to defend claims for alleged groundwater contamination by Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. Negotiated resolution with Cabinet on behalf of 40 PRPs to monitor site for next 12 years pursuant to negotiated Agreed Order and Operations & Management Plan.
Bulk Terminals/George O’Bryan v. Atlantic Richfield, No. 2005-CA-002448-MR, 2007 Ky. App. LEXIS 78 (Ky. App. March 9, 2007). Click HERE to view the decision.
White Consolidated Industries, Inc. v. Westinghouse Electric Corporation
We were lead counsel for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in litigation involving contract, CERCLA and other claims against Westinghouse arising out of clean up of TCE contamination at a manufacturing facility sold by Westinghouse to plaintiff. We obtained summary judgment for Westinghouse on all claims, which was affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. White Consolidated Industries, Inc. v. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 179 F.3d 403 (6th Cir. 1999).
Litigation
When an asset-seller sought to pass its responsibility to contribute to the cost to cleanup a landfill in West Chester, Ohio, to an asset-buyer, Borden, Inc. turned to Dinsmore for counsel and defense. In a bench trial with numerous witnesses and hundreds of thousands of documents, we convinced the court that the asset-seller retained the cleanup liability and that Borden did not assume the liability. Subsequently, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision in its entirety (OXY USA, Inc. v. Borden, Inc., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 694 (January 7, 2007)). Borden’s victory not only prevented the asset-seller from transferring its liability for the cost to clean up the landfill at issue in the case, but prevented the asset-seller from alleging that Borden was responsible for its cleanup obligations at any other site in the United States where any of the more than half a dozen facilities that were the subject of the sale may have sent waste for disposal.