Businesses considering filing Chapter 11 for bankruptcy protection may not necessarily be able to avoid certain environmental cleanup obligations. The underlying policy goals of bankruptcy and environmental laws are in direct conflict in that bankruptcy law seeks to promote financial rehabilitation by discharging a debtor's past obligations in order to promote financial rehabilitation while environmental law seeks to ensure that the government can order responsible parties to clean up contamination, including historical pollution caused by business predecessors.
Filed under:
USA, Environment & Climate Change, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Day Pitney LLP, Contamination, Environmental remediation, Pollution, Bankruptcy, Debtor, Injunction, Breach of contract, Debt, Waste management, Joint and several liability, Bankruptcy discharge, US Environmental Protection Agency, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 (USA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 1976 (USA), Seventh Circuit
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