B&D is pleased to present the next installment of our 2024 Litigation Look Ahead series. (Read part four covering Fifth Amendment takings cases here).

Buyers and sellers of contaminated properties will want to take note of the June 3, 2019 ruling from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York. In a 14-page opinion, Judge Cangilos-Ruiz ruled that neither a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) § 104(e) information request nor a National Priority Listing regarding a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated section of the Black River constitute “claims” under New York law.

Highlighting a potential shortcoming in some attempts to transfer environmental liability in bankruptcy proceedings, a federal court in New York found common law liability for environmental contamination was not covered by a release of “Environmental Law” liability. See In re: Motors Liquidation Company, et al., BANKR No.