ELR Citation: ELR 20634
No(s). 85-0216 (M.D. Pa. May 23, 1986)

The court rules that storage of hazardous waste after the effective date of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's (RCRA's) permit and notification provisions constitutes a violation of those provisions even though the defendant stopped hauling waste before their promulgation. In this suit brought by neighbors of defendant's hazardous waste sites, the court first holds that the defendant did not violate RCRA §2004's ban on open dumping because no dumping occurred after promulgation of the hazardous waste regulations, and solid waste regulations enacted before defendant stopped dumping do not apply to hazardous waste. The court holds that defendant violated the permit and notification requirements in RCRA §§3005 and 3010 by storing hazardous waste after the regulations' effective date, even though defendant stopped hauling waste before their promulgation.

The court next holds that plaintiffs' documentation from a 1984 Environmental Protection Agency investigation is too stale to justify injunctive relief for violation of RCRA §6972(a)'s imminent and substantial endangerment provision. The court holds that the defendant violated an effluent limitation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) because an overflow of pollutants from a lagoon into a nearby stream qualifies as a discharge from a point source. The court also holds that the defendant is liable for response costs under CERCLA §107 even though determination of the amount of such costs, or whether plaintiffs incurred any response costs at all, must await further proceedings. Finally, the court holds that until the issues are explored further, plaintiffs are not entitled to attorney fees or civil penalties under the FWPCA or RCRA, or injunctive relief under the FWPCA.

Counsel are listed at 16 ELR 20001.