Liability for cleanup of inactive hazardous-waste-disposal sites

This article reviews the current legal basis for imposing liability for cleanup costs on the generators of these wastes as well as on the owners and operators of disposal sites. Many critical issues remain undecided in cases pending in the courts, and other issues will be resolved in the administrative development of Superfund. Nonetheless, a body of case law is growing which is beginning to define the dimensions of and criteria for liability in this area. This paper discusses the elements of each theory of liability for abatement and cleanup costs as well as several issues which cut across the different theories.