has made such a concerted effort to evade its liability for the pollution, and the public is aware of that, and the public is skeptical".
Environmental groups had sued the agency, contending that the rule could shield big animal feeding operations, which generate 500 million tons of manure a year, from liability for any pollution of nearby streams and aquifers.
Barrick and South Dakota officials also said the mine could be drained again if the lab proposal, which has been stalled by legal concerns over liability for possible pollution at the mine, ever moves ahead.
Chevron, for example, could face up to $27 billion in liability in Ecuador for pollution of the jungle.
The company's president and chief executive, Steven Newman, said in a conference call last month that "under our drilling contract for the Horizon, BP has agreed to assume full responsibility for the costs and the liability of pollution and contamination".
The corporation expects to spend up to $29 million for pollution liability insurance, community outreach, a contingency for litigation, a demolition manager and additional environmental review, testing and monitoring.
The insurance also provides liability and legal defense expense coverage for pollution caused by asbestos in the building or lead-based paint.
These costs exclude potential liability for external risks such as pollution clean-up, or fines.
The power that they generate is exported out of state (that's right, we don't use any of the electricity that creates the filth belched into Chicago's skies) but the blight of their pollution is a severe liability for those of us who live and work in this town -- and especially those in the dense communities that surround these technical anachronisms.
Key themes in optimal regulatory design include the merits of sharp incentives for pollution prevention using negligence-type rules; flexible regulation that allows interfirm trading of pollution rights; landowner rights regimes that elicit efficient location decisions in coming-to-the-nuisance situations; and potential environmental costs of extended (lender) liability for environmental harm.
