ELR Citation: ELR 20673
No(s). 92-7458 (E.D. Pa. Sep 22, 1994)

The court holds that under §107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the United States is liable as an "owner" for response costs a chemical company incurred in cleaning up land and groundwater contaminated with chemicals used in the manufacture of the pesticide DDT that the government used in World War II. The court first holds that the United States owned the equipment within the meaning of CERCLA because it owned and leased, through its entity the Defense Plant Corporation, the components most important to the production of DDT. The court next holds that the equipment the United States leased to the company to make DDT qualifies as a "facility" within the meaning of CERCLA. The court holds that the substances found at the site are "hazardous substances" within the meaning of CERCLA. The court next holds that the United States disposed of hazardous materials from its equipment. The equipment created waste during the production of DDT, and the waste was sent from the equipment to pipes that brought the waste to a waste pond. Sending the waste streams from the equipment to the pipes was a means of disposing of the waste, and this disposal constituted disposal at a facility under §107. The court next holds that there was a threatened release. The United States disposed of its waste into the company's pipes, which led directly into an outdoor waste pit. The release was actually imminent. Finally, the court holds that the company incurred response costs consistent with the national contingency plan to remediate the site.

[A prior decision in this litigation is published at 24 ELR 20352.]

Counsel for Petitioner
Michael A. Bogdonoff, William J. Kennedy
Dechert, Price & Rhoads
4000 Bell Atlantic Tower
1717 Arch St., Philadelphia PA 19103
(215) 994-4000

Counsel for Respondent
Timothy Burns
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000