Mediation and arbitration of environmental disputes: Cost effective alternatives to litigation
Environmental disputes typically involve multiple parties with divergent interests seeking resolution of complex technical issues. When first confronted with a maze of regulations, governmental agencies and court rulings, any interested party may find it difficult to conceive of an effective solution. In the process of airing differences in search of that solution, the traditional forum of litigation discourages the parties from raising sensitive issues. Litigation is an open, public process that is highly structured. Environmental disputes often depend upon technical speculation to determine the cause of contamination, and in assessing remediation. Political differences can significantly shape a party`s approach to resolution, and often provide the underlying motive for the dispute. In effect, these threshold issues cannot even be addressed in a lawsuit structured on pleadings, adversarial discovery, and a winner-take-all concept of judgment. Mediation and arbitration offer legitimate alternatives to the traditional forum of litigation. They act as cost effective processes which can avoid litigation completely, when initiated as an early preventive action, or as an adjunct to litigation that provides factual information in a cost-conscious, time-conscious, focused manner.
- OSTI ID:
- 367608
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951124--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Alternative dispute resolution in electricity: Just do it!
Environmental dispute resolution