ELR Citation: ELR 20654
No(s). 98-36247 (9th Cir. Jun 15, 2000)

The court vacates a district court decision that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) claims against the owners and operators of Bunker Hill Mining Site in Idaho are time barred. EPA listed the Bunker Hill site on the national priorities list (NPL) and then filed suit against the owners and operators for natural resource damages, stating that the boundaries of the Bunker Hill site included the Coeur d'Alene Basin. The district court determined that because EPA had not extended the site's boundaries to include the basin, the CERCLA limitation for facilities listed on the NPL did not apply to EPA's natural resource damages claims and, therefore, EPA's claims were barred by the usual three-year statute of limitations in CERCLA. The court holds that jurisdiction to adjudicate the validity of including the basin within the boundaries of the Bunker Hill site NPL listing is vested exclusively in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The court, therefore, vacates the district court's grant of summary judgment to the owners and operators of the site and remands with instructions to stay the proceedings for a reasonable period in order to permit the owners and operators to file a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit.

[A prior decision in this litigation is published at 29 ELR 20188.]

Counsel for Plaintiff
Ronald M. Spritzer
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Counsel for Defendants
Peter J. Nickles
Covington & Burling
1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC 20004
(202) 662-6000