Editors' Summary: Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is an umbrella phrase that includes a variety of techniques designed to avoid expensive and time-consuming litigation. ADR techniques such as mediation and arbitration have been used successfully for years to resolve disputes among private parties. However, attempts to apply ADR to environmental enforcement cases have met with resistance from the federal government and the private sector. Even a memorandum from EPA Administrator Lee Thomas transmitting EPA's new ADR guidance document and strongly encouraging agency officials to promote the use of ADR in enforcement cases has had little impact. The author, a former EPA senior enforcement attorney who participated in the development of EPA's ADR guidance, examines the need for ADR in environmental enforcement and the obstacles to its use. He concludes that ADR should play a key role in environmental enforcement as EPA's docket of judicial and administrative cases continues to grow, but that support from government and private sector leaders is essential to overcome the obstacles to the use of ADR.