NCD980602163_19990913_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Court backs right to enjoin under CERCLA-OCR

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> Forward Header ------------------> --------------------> Subject: Court backs right to enjoin under CERCLA
>
> Date:
>
>
9/13/99 11:09 AM
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Federal Appeals Court Affirms Citizens' Right To Sue Over Inadequate
> Military Base Cleanups.
>
> Ninth Circuit Hands Down Decision in Fort Ord Toxics Project and
> California
> Public Interest Research Group v. California Environmental Protection
> Agency and United States Army
>
>Ina decision that is the first of its kind in the nation, a federal
> appeals court held that citizens who live near polluted military bases may
>
> sue the military in order to obtain better environmental cleanups.
>
> "Over the years, the U.S. Military has polluted millions of acres of land
> at thousands of military bases across the nation with highly toxic
> substances," says Curt Gandy, executive directory of the Fort Ord Toxics
> Project ("FOTP"), one of the plaintiffs in the case. "In addition, the
> military has refused to adequately clean up its toxic legacy. At one base
>
> after another, the military has taken meager and inadequate steps to clean
>
> up the pollution, believing that it was protected against lawsuits that
> challenge the cleanups. This decision changes that. "
>
> Johnathan Kaplan of the California Public Interest Research Group
> ("CalPIRG"), a co-plaintiff in the case, said, "This is a vindication of
> citizens' rights to challenge inadequate cleanup plans at military bases
> throughout the United States. This decision provides millions of people
> across the country who live in the shadow of toxic pollution at military
> bases with a right to sue the military in order to obtain a cleanup that
> protects their health and the health of their children."
>
> The decision was handed down on September 2, 1999, by the federal Ninth
> Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
>
> The court's decision, written by Judge Charles Wiggins, acknowledges
> that it is the first of its kind in the nation. The opinion states, "no
> [other] circuit court has published a decision reaching this question."
>
> The decision states that the right to challenge Superfund cleanups at
> federally owned property is broader than the right to challenge such
> cleanups at private sites. The court states that the decision will "allow
>
> plaintiffs to sue to enjoin many cleanups on federal property even though
> plaintiffs could not sue to enjoin a similar cleanup on private
> property."
>
> The plaintiffs filed suit against the U.S. Army and the California
> Environmental Protection Agency in mid-1997 in an attempt to halt the Army
>
> from dumping hazardous waste into an unlined landfill on Fort Ord, a
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> former
> Army base located near Monterey, California that has been designated as a
> high priority cleanup site under the federal Superfund statute. The Army
> is using the landfill as a disposal site for hazardous wastes excavated
> from the Fort Ord site during the Superfund cleanup process. The
> plaintiffs allege that the wastes threaten to contaminate an underground
> aquifer that serves as a source of drinking water for the nearby City of
> Marina, California.
>
> The Army filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that the Superfund
> statute barred the suit. Although the trial court agreed with the Army,
> and dismissed the case, the appeals court overturned the trial court's
> decision. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the Superfund statute does not
> deprive federal courts of jurisdiction to hear lawsuits which challenge
> the
> adequacy of remedial actions at highly polluted military bases and other
> sites which are owned or operated by the federal government.
>
> FOTP is a non-profit corporation organized by residents living on and
> around Fort Ord to ensure that the cleanup of environmental pollution of
> the former Army base protects human health and the environment.
>
> CalPIRG is a California-wide educational and issue-advocacy organization
> engaged in research, lobbying, and citizen organizing to encourage
> protection and preservation of the public health and the environment.
>
> The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Scott Allen of San Francisco
> and Charles Caldart and David Nicholas of the Boston-based National
> Environmental Law Center.
>
> For Further Information Contact:
>
> Curt Gandy, Fort Ord Toxics Project [phone]
> Scott Allen, Attorney for Plaintiffs [phone]
> Charles Caldart, Attorney for Plaintiffs [phone]
> <<ATT00791.txt>>
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09/17/1999 6:58 AM