A number of federal and state environmental laws have been enacted that regulate the generation, use, treatment, transportation and disposal of hazardous wastes and materials. Under these laws, generators of hazardous waste as well as current and former owners or operators of contaminated property may be strictly and retroactively liable for all cleanup costs associated with discharges of hazardous waste. Liability for cleanup costs has also been extended to companies whose subsidiaries were responsible for the contamination, purchasers of companies who may have improperly disposed of hazardous wastes in the pasts as well as shareholders, officers and lenders of those companies.
