Following the reasoning of the Supreme Court in Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co., Inc. (AEP), 546 U.S. ___ (No. 10-174, S. Ct. 2011), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington ruled in January that federal common law nuisance claims filed by Washington residents living downstream and downwind of a Canadian metal smelter and fertilizer manufacturing facility must be dismissed, because CERCLA displaces the federal common law of nuisance. Barbara Anderson, et al. v. Teck Metals, 2015 BL 1624 (E.D. Wash. No. 13-CV-420, 1/5/15). Former and current residents of Northport, Washington filed a class action alleging that air… Read more
Tag: hazardous materials
EPA Proposes Revised Definition of Solid Waste
In July of 2011, the EPA proposed revisions of the 2008 definition of Solid Waste. The proposed rule would remove the exclusion for hazardous, secondary materials sent to third party recyclers, and notification and storage requirements for facilities that recycle hazardous secondary materials onsite or within the same company. It would also require all hazardous waste recycling to meet federal recycling standards, and create a petition process for facility owners to show the legitimacy of their recycling practices. Industry groups representing the metal recycling, fertilizer, specialty chemical and mining industries have indicated that there could be a legal challenge to… Read more