ELR Citation: ELR 20650
No(s). 88-CV-934 (N.D.N.Y. Oct 12, 1990)

The court refuses to approve a consent decree under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Electric Co. (GE) for the cleanup of a former industrial waste disposal facility in upstate New York. The court finds that EPA may have misled the State of New York into concurring with the revised enforcement decision document (EDD) requiring GE to restore a contaminated aquifer and to build a public water distribution system. The state concurred with the revised EDD with the understanding that GE would supply public water to currently undeveloped areas, but such language was deleted from the record of decision (ROD) that EPA issued for the site. The court holds that the omission of that language from the ROD and the omission of crucial documents from the administrative record were arbitrary, since EPA provided no explanation for the omissions.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Donald A. Carr, Paul Chassy
Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Counsel for Defendants
Lewis B. Oliver Jr.
Oliver & Oliver
156 Madison Ave., Albany NY 12202
(518) 463-7962

John M. Freyer, Susan Phillips Read
Bond, Schoeneck & King
111 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12210
(518) 462-7421

Mary Elizabeth Ward
Environmental Defense Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000