We live in a world of ever-growing concern about environmental harm to our health and well-being. As the science of detection improves, so does our awareness of large-scale releases of contaminants into the air, water and soil, which can affect large numbers of people and their property.

For example, high concentrations of lead were found in Flint, Michigan, and shortly thereafter in drinking water systems in New Jersey and New York. Large volumes of natural gas were released into the soils below the homes of residents in a southern California subdivision, which volatized into the air, and remained uncapped for months. A spate of PFOA-contaminated groundwater issues have arisen throughout the Northeastern states; and, of course, we are all familiar with the widespread injuries and property damage caused by hurricanes Sandy and Katrina to tens of thousands of people living in their paths.

In each of these cases, a single event or series of related events caused harm to large numbers of people. Generally, the types of harm suffered-either to persons or to property-are similar in character, but can differ enormously by degree among the affected population. While our judicial systems were neither designed nor are they equipped to handle cases involving thousands of litigants similarly affected-but in vastly differing measures-these matters provide a perfect opportunity to use ADR skills to resolve them intelligently and effectively.

A Solution to a Complex Web of Issues

Mediation and other ADR processes have repeatedly been enormously effective in resolving mass toxic-tort and environmental claims. ADR provides a way to condense many years of expensive court procedures into a precise, cost-effective and efficient process that provides fair and individualized compensation to thousands of people that were affected by an accidental release or other tragic event.

In addition, mediation provides the opportunity to weave together and settle at one time many interrelated disputes that may arise from a single event or contaminated area. For example, one cluster of environmental conflicts may involve civil suits among the private parties seeking an allocation of fault and payment for the cleanup, personal injury and property damage claims arising from the same contamination, regulatory enforcement or penalty actions brought by environmental agencies and attorneys general, and lawsuits between individual parties and insurance companies that issued multiple pollution policies over the years. The outcome of each of these cases may affect the ability of the parties to resolve the other cases. But no one court or administrative body ordinarily exercises jurisdiction over all of them. Mediation, however, provides a single forum where all these cases can be resolved in a coordinated way. It may be achieved through separate agreements but the effect is the same-all moving pieces are brought to rest at a meeting point at the mediator’s conference table. It’s the point where a settlement can be reached that comes closest to meeting the collective best interests of all parties.  [Read more…]