Environmental Project Experience

Libby Montana Asbestos Site
The town of Libby, Montana, was significantly contaminated with asbestos from local mining operations by W.R. Grace. Toeroek reviewed 1,330 boxes of documents provided by Grace and identified evidence for EPA's cost recovery case. We identified fraudulent transfers by Grace prior to its bankruptcy and provided litigation support to EPA in its successful litigation against Grace, resulting in a multimillion dollar award to the government.

Magnesium Corporation of America
This company's plant adjacent to the Great Salt Lake in Utah is one of the largest producers of magnesium in the world. Contamination from the plant, including dioxin, has been the subject of EPA and State investigations for several years. Toeroek researched and analyzed potential liability and land ownership issues, complicated by the facility's location on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. Toeroek's research included defining property boundaries, ownership at and around the plant and land use at a waste pond.

Gilt Edge Site
Located approximately four miles southeast of Deadwood, South Dakota, Gilt Edge is a former 258-acre open pit, cyanide heap-leach gold mine site that was designated as a National Priorities List (NPL) site in December 2000. The mine site is located at the headwaters of cold-water fisheries and municipal water supplies of the northern Black Hills. Approximately 150 million gallons of acidic, heavy-metal-laden water in three open pits and millions of cubic yards of acid-generating waste rock remain at Gilt Edge. Toeroek was tasked by the EPA to review over 450 boxes of information and to generate a written analytical report focused on the operations and ownership of Gilt Edge during a period of time when extensive exploration and metallurgical activities were conducted. Toeroek uploaded the scanned images into a database that is searchable by key words and categories in addition to indexing and labeling each document for future reference by EPA. This project is ongoing as EPA evaluates its options for enforcement action(s).

Mercury Refining, Inc.
Located in Albany, New York, Mercury Refining is the largest recycler of silver oxide batteries in the country. Although the site is still in operation today, EPA is involved in settlement negotiations for recovery of remediation costs at the site involving 422 parties. Toeroek operated a toll-free call center for EPA that provided PRP's with information about their cost obligations and potential liabilities.

Curtis Specialty Paper Site
Formerly the James River Paper site, this 75-acre abandoned facility is located along the Delaware River in New Jersey. Contaminants include asbestos, mold, poisonous, corrosive and combustible materials. Working in Level C PPE, Toeroek scanned thousands of pages of documents onsite making important site information available and useful to EPA in their evaluation of potential enforcement actions.

Lockwood Solvent Site
The Lockwood neighborhood in Billings, Montana, was provided bottled water when its domestic wells became contaminated with industrial solvents and hydrocarbons. Toeroek performed research to identify Potentially Responsible Parties and those who could pay for cleanup of the groundwater plume which is migrating toward the Yellowstone River. Toeroek identified the source of the plume and calculated when the spill occurred in order to tie the contamination to the facility owners. Toeroek also provided EPA with suggested emergency actions to ensure that the plume did not contaminate the Yellowstone River.

Lowry Landfill Site
This 480-acre landfill and Superfund site near Denver, Colorado accepted municipal and industrial waste for more than 20 years, resulting in contamination of soil, surface waters and groundwater. Toeroek provided referral support to the EPA litigation team and determined potential cost allocations to over 200 parties.

Weld County Landfill
The Weld County (Colorado) Landfill operated from the 1970s to 1995 as a commercial solid waste facility that was permitted to receive oil field brines and other petroleum liquid waste derived from oil and gas exploration and production activities. Toeroek analyzed generator and transporter liability and created a "waste-in" database used to allocate liability.