ELR Citation: ELR 21072
No(s). 86 C 20153 (N.D. Ill. Mar 24, 1988)

The court holds that regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) governing the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) apply to both generators and owners or operators of disposal facilities, and that a generator is "storing for disposal" PCB-contaminated oil within the meaning of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulation even though the waste is located at the plaintiff's reprocessing facility. Plaintiff, a reprocessor of used motor oil, had picked up waste oil from defendant's facility, only to later discover that the oil contained PCBs in excess of TSCA's standards. Defendant refused to retrieve the oil from plaintiff's facility. The court first holds that the TSCA storage and disposal regulations impose a duty on any entity that stores for disposal PCB-contaminated oil. Although the regulation fails to specify who is under a duty to dispose of the waste, this interpretation is consistent with the overall purpose of the TSCA PCB storage and disposal policy and EPA policy statements and regulatory interpretation of the regulation, which clearly states that liability can be imposed on both the waste generator and the owner or operator of the disposal facility. The court then holds that contaminated oil is being stored for disposal within the meaning of the regulation. The court holds that the generator of the oil is storing it and is under a duty to properly dispose of it. Plaintiff received the waste without knowledge of its contamination and has no contractual obligation to store or dispose of it. Moreover, defendant remains the owner of the oil, since the plaintiff never accepted ownership.

[An earlier decision from this litigation is published at 18 ELR 21071.]

Counsel are listed at 18 ELR 21071.