Superfund Lawyers Optimistic About Supreme Court Prospects

Superfund lawyers are feeling optimistic the Supreme Court will resolve a high-stakes landowner lawsuit without disrupting the federal cleanup program.

The justices heard oral arguments last week in a closely watched dispute between Atlantic Richfield Co. and nearly 100 Montana residents who live within the company’s sprawling Anaconda Co. Smelter Superfund site.

Before the court date, Superfund attorneys and companies involved in cleanups expressed anxiety the Supreme Court could upend the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in the federal program.

A decision in the case likely won’t be issued for months. But many lawyers are already breathing a sigh ...