Consent Decree Cannot Be Revised Without 'Changed Circumstances'

摘要

In a May 11, 2005 decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) could not revise the terms of a 1997 consent decree (CD) to which it had previously agreed (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection vs. Gloucester Environmental Management Services, Inc., Docket Number: 84-0152). The CD requires a county water authority to accept pretreated groundwater from a Superfund landfill site. Due to concerns that the groundwater contains radioactive contamination, NJDEP sued to change the terms of the CD to onsite treatment and reinjection. The court determined that the CD cannot be revised, since there are no "changed circumstances" that justify any changes.