In Rare Loss For EPA, D.C. Circuit Rejects Indiana Site's Superfund Listing

摘要

In an unusual loss for EPA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has vacated the agency's decision to place an Indiana waste site on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), finding that EPA ignored evidence that a contaminated aquifer is not connected to other groundwater. "Because EPA 'entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem' by failing to address evidence that runs counter to the agency's decision, we hold that the listing of the Site is arbitrary and capricious," says the unanimous May 18 ruling in Genuine Parts Company v. EPA. The ruling is available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 211973) The court says it is vacating the NPL listing and remanding it to EPA for further proceedings consistent with the opinion, written by Senior Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards on behalf of fellow panel members Senior Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg and Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson. During Feb. 20 oral argument in the case, Edwards was especially critical of EPA's listing decision for the West Vermont Drinking Water Contamination Site in Indianapolis, IN, expressing doubts over key EPA technical findings related to aquifers beneath the site.