EGHB Team Wins MSJ in High-Stakes CERCLA Case

by | Sep 8, 2016 | News Archives

EGHB attorneys have achieved a significant victory for the firm’s client Texas Eastern Overseas (TEO) in an environmental contamination case involving an industrial dry cleaner and laundry.  Through EGHB’s successful summary judgment motion, the EGHB team reduced, by at least $13 million, the total damages that the current owner/operator Plaintiff could recover under its CERCLA claims.

One of the main pillars of this victory rested on TEO successfully showing that Plaintiff was not entitled to recover from TEO the multi-million dollar settlements Plaintiff previously paid to neighboring parties.  It was undisputed that these settlements resolved both CERCLA and non-CERCLA recoverable claims.  On summary judgment, the Court agreed with TEO that because there was no evidence about what percentage of the settlement amounts was allocated to resolve the CERCLA claims only, Plaintiff could not recover any of the settlement monies under its CERCLA claim.

The outcome in this case demonstrates the superior quality of the firm’s law and motion work, and effectiveness in trying complex, high-stakes environmental cases.