Court Finds Rockefeller Heirs Not Responsible for Environmental Cleanup Bill

Over a hundred years ago John D. Rockefeller was the head of the American Smelting and Refining Company (Asarco). Asarco has agreed to pay $50.2 million in a cleanup effort to remove hazourdous substances from two sites in Washington state, and wanted Rockefeller’s heirs to pay a share of the cost. The case was dismissed in district court for being time-barred.

In Asarco LLC v.Goodwin, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the case was properly dismissed because more than three years passed between the company’s agreement to pay the cleanup cost and the date the suit was filed, and thus the statute of limitations had run. No decision on liability of the heirs was made.

See Adam Klasfeld, Rockefeller Heirs Duck Superfund Payments, Courthouse News Service, June 26, 2014.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.