Natural Resource Damages (a.k.a., NRD)

[RyanSzuch]

Could members enlighten me regarding the status and level of NRD litigation and negotiation within PA? I recently moved here after consulting for several years in New Jersey (NJ). The NJ DEP has its own office (of Natural Resource Restoration) dedicated to identification and recovery of NRD liabilities. They focus primarly on groundwater claims, because the state of NJ is the sole "trustee" of groundwater. I don't believe that PA has a similar "NRD-focused" office withn DEP or DCNR. Am I right/wrong? In some other states, NRD claims are driven by the Attorney General's office. I know that PA is involved in at least one major NRD case in PA, that being the Palmerton Zinc Mine Superfund Site. I assume there must be some other Superfund sites where PA is active in a NRD claim. Many NRD claims are at Superfund or at recent oil/chemical spill sites because the authority for NRD claims comes primarily from CERCLA and from OPA (Oil Pollution Act). Any insight would be appreciated. Perhaps this is something that PA regulators should be thinking more about...given some of the recent accidents/releases related to Marcellus drilling???

[AngelaSchreffler]

Hey Ryan,
Duane (PAEP VP) actually passed this around to the Board to see if any of us could help you out...one of the Board members is an environmental lawyer and he may be able to answer (Mitchell). Not knowing anything about this topic myself, I passed your post along to others in my company on the Superfund/haz waste side of things, but no one was familiar with NRD actions in PA. However, you peaked the interest of one of my coworkers and she did a little searching and did find something relating to NRD on DEP's website - http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/se ... ment/14074
It sounds like DEP lets other federal agencies handle the bulk of it (USFWS, NOAA, and DOI), but does mention two cases currently going on in PA.

It does sound interesting, in relation to marcellus shale, but hopefully PA can start to regulate the drilling better so that it occurs more responsibly and we won't be stuck with a boatload of NRD that needs fixing when they are done. I'd guess that NRD cases aren't common in PA - there must be some other mechanism that is used for cleanup/enforcement instead. Hopefully Mitchell or another member can provide more insight!
Angela