ELR Citation: 41 ELR 20171
No(s). 10-2237 (7th Cir. May 3, 2011)

The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing residents' RCRA lawsuit against a nearby solid waste facility. The lower court ruled that it lacked federal subject matter jurisdiction because the state was pursuing an enforcement action in state court. The appellate court disagreed. RCRA allows the residents to pursue those claims that are beyond the scope of the state's lawsuit. The state's suit dealt primarily with the dumping, processing, and disposal of "C" grade waste and waste piles. But the residents' RCRA claim also seeks relief for "A" grade waste, "B" grade waste, and other types of solid waste that were not expressly addressed in the state action. Nor was the residents' suit barred by a second suit the state filed in state court after the residents filed their lawsuit. The bar does not apply if the citizen suit was filed first. The lower court also ruled that it should abstain from exercising jurisdiction over all RCRA claims under the abstention doctrines articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Burford v. Sun Oil Co., 319 U.S. 315 (1943), and Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States, 424 U.S. 800 (1976). But because the residents satisfied the statutory requirements for bringing their citizen suit, abstention doctrines should not have been used to block them from pursuing the avenues that Congress gave them in RCRA.