The Consent Decree settling environmental claims alleged by the United States and the State of California related to the Cooper Drum Company Superfund Site was filed in federal court on December 29, 2015, and is the culmination of a five-year effort to bring this matter to a settlement.

The Cooper Drum Company operated a drum reconditioning business, refurbishing and recycling 55-gallon steel drums. Residual materials from inside the drums were spilled onto the soils and made their way to the groundwater under the Site as a result of Cooper Drum’s processes. Cooper Drum went out of business, so EPA asked the customers of Cooper Drum to undertake the cleanup.

Dan Vineyard and Lindsey Moorhead are common counsel for a group of settling parties including some of the nation’s largest companies. These parties agreed to effect the environmental cleanup in exchange for forgiveness of certain past costs, covenants not-to-sue, and contribution protection. The negotiations involved 40 private parties, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Jackson Walker led the negotiations with the government agencies as well as interparty negotiations with contributing settling defendants, de minimis parties and ability-to-pay parties. Resolution of this complex case is garnering press coverage.