ELR Citation: ELR 20050
No(s). 03-0846 (N.D. Okla. Feb 23, 2009)

A district court held that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not preempt a Native American tribe's state-law claims for natural resource damages against successor entities of various mining companies. While the tribe may not use common law and CERCLA to recover the same removal and assessment costs, CERCLA does not preempt state-law claims in the absence of a conflict between CERCLA and state law. Here, the tribe's claims are limited to damages for the restoration, replacement, or acquisition of damaged natural resources. Accordingly, the tribe's request for damages complies with CERCLA §107(f) and does not interfere with CERCLA's goal of restoring and replacing contaminated natural resources. Nor is there a direct conflict between state and federal law.