ELR Citation: ELR 20570
No(s). 83-3316 (S.D. Ill. Apr 11, 1984)

The court holds that suits brought by residents of Jefferson County, Missouri, charging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with negligence for failure to warm them of a dioxin contaminated landfill or to remove the contaminated soil are barred by the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act. The Act allows compensation for injuries arising out of operational decisions but not out of policy decisions. Plaintiffs have made no allegations of operational error or of any regulatory limits on EPA's discretion. EPA's decision not to issue a warning or initiate a cleanup action was a protected policy decision involving the weighing of competing interests and is thus immune from judicial review via a tort action.

[The decision on appeal to the 7th Circuit appears at 15 ELR 20571.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Patrick S. O'Brien, Paul L. Pratt
P.O. Box 179, East Alton IL 62024
(618) 259-8011

Counsel for Defendants
Richard K. Willard, Jeffrey Axelrad, Donald E. Jose, Arvin Maskin
Civil Division
Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-3301

Frederick J. Hess
Criminal Division
Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-3684

Bruce E. Reppert, Ass't U.S. Attorney
Room 330, 750 Missouri Ave., East St. Louis IL 62202
(314) 277-9361