Tryon Corp. and Sandoval, Inc. were joint owners of the former Sandy Glass manufacturing facility. An environmental assessment found that the two companies share joint and several liability for a hazardous materials cleanup. What could happen if the two of them don't agree to cooperate in the cleanup?

One company pays 100%, the other re-reimburses 50%  

Explanation:

If an environmental assessment found that the two companies share joint and several liability for a hazardous materials cleanup.

What could happen if the two of them don't agree to cooperate in the cleanup is that one of the companies will eventually settle the costs fully while the other party will have to reimburse the party that pays, 50%.

The paying company could make claims because the environmental impact assessment has already found both companies jointly liable. hence each company ought to jointly share the costs

If both companies refuse to cleanup the hazardous materials, then the EPA will proceed to clean up all hazardous materials with the help of the National response System. Since the EPA has identified the companies responsible for this incident, it will seek payments for the costs incurred. The federal government will go after both companies in order to recover the costs (up to 3 times the costs incurred).

Explanation:

Once it has been determined that hazardous materials were released into the environment, the EPA must act as soon as possible, it cannot wait for those responsible to decide when it would be better for them to act.

The Superfund Law ( Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act) establishes severe penalties for companies responsible for the release of hazardous materials. One of the most relevant issues here is that the law establishes joint and several responsibility to all the parties involved, meaning that any of the responsible parties (Tyron or Sandoval) can be held liable for all the cleanup costs. If one party is not able to pay their share of the costs, the other party must pay them completely.

This law also allows the EPA to collect up to 3 times the cleanup costs from the responsible parties if they refuse to pay them immediately.

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