Exxon, Union Oil Lose Bid to Vacate Superfund Cleanup Agreement

Exxon Mobil Corp., Union Oil Co. of California, and CNA Holdings LLC’s effort to throw out a Superfund cleanup agreement that prevented them from recovering costs from the federal government was thwarted by a federal appeals court.

The companies said a federal district court failed to meaningfully review a consent decree resolving cleanup responsibilities for a Rhode Island Superfund site before approving it. Under the agreement, the federal government will pay a minuscule share of the estimated $100 million in cleanup costs, they alleged.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit disagreed and affirmed the district...