Foreword

• Author: John Cruden
• Profession: President. Environmental Law Institute
• Pages: 9-9

Page ix

Foreword

For many practitioners, the Environmental Law Institute’s last edition of the Superfund Deskbook is still

a daily companion even though it is over 20 years old. In a sense, this is not at all surprising. Given the

complexity and confusion that surrounds Superfund law and policy, a single volume that combines analysis

and key statutory and policy materials is extremely useful. But my colleagues at ELI have been sensitive

to the fact that Superfund law and policy has continued to evolve, so a revised text and a new selection of

materials became an imperative. With this new edition, I am condent that the past tradition of having the

deskbook close at hand will continue for many years into the future. ELI was lucky to enlist a skilled team

from Arnold & Porter LLP to prepare the analysis and help select the key materials, and they have done a

superb job. Here you have in one place the most important materials you need to answer your questions

and jump-start your research.

For a practitioner, Superfund is not only about the legal scheme associated with who is liable and which

company pays how much, but increasingly about the nuts and bolts of remediating and/or redeveloping a

contaminated site. is edition, therefore, goes beyond the legal issues relating to liability, defenses, and

cost recovery/contribution, although it addresses the evolving law on these topics, and a lso addresses the

process and issues involved in developing and implementing a remedy and in redeveloping a contaminated

site. e goal of this addition was to assist a practitioner in contaminated site cleanup.

As a national environmental research and publishing organization dedicated to the development of more

eective and more ecient environmental protection and pollution control programs, the Environmental

Law Institute takes pride in the publication of this book. It will be an invaluable addition to ELI’s other

reference works. is book stands as a testament to ELI’s commitment to fostering a better understanding

of the major environmental statutes and is a continuing manifestation of ELI’s commitment to serve the

professional pollution control community with authoritative information it can use in the interest of better

managing our natural resources.

John Cruden

President

Environmental Law Institute