The New Jersey District Court has issued a seminal decision in Champion Laboratories v. Metex Corp., interpreting the right to sue for environmental clean-up costs under certain sections of the Federal Superfund law.
Sheila Woolson, a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment and Litigation practices in the Newark office, writing on the significance of the case in the New Jersey Law Journal, on July 21, 2008, noted that the Champion decision held that a state consent order may constitute an approved settlement under the Superfund law (known formally as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or "CERCLA") and, therefore, provide a basis for legal actions for CERCLA contribution claims and contribution protection even if the underlying cause of action arose under state environmental laws.