Editor's Perspective-Developments in Natural Resource Damage Claims

Natural resource damage (NRD) provisions have been a part of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) since its inception in 1980. Some of the most famous NRD actions are the Exxon Valdez spill (estimated $1 billion) and two mining sites in Idaho-Bunker Hill (estimated $2.8 billion) and Blackbird Mine (estimated $60 million) (Renner, 1998). Because of the magnitude of these types of NRD actions and the difficulty in establishing that damage has occurred to a resource, NRD assessments have been of little concern for most remediation professionals. However, over the past few years, NRD actions have gained substantial notoriety as more states focus on making NRD claims, particularly related to contaminated groundwater. This Editor's Perspective discusses a "new class" of NRDs-claims due to injury to groundwater.