Court Limits Pollution Cleanup Lawsuits

[papau]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4670435,00.html

Court Limits Pollution Cleanup Lawsuits
( Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming -ALL LOSE -Bush wins in Cooper Industries Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc., 02-1192)
Monday December 13, 2004 4:01 PM


By GINA HOLLAND

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday put restrictions on companies that want to voluntarily clean up their polluted land and sue former owners to share the costs.

The court ruled 7-2 against a company that in 1981 bought land in Texas that had been used for aircraft engine maintenance businesses and then went to court to recover some of the $5 million it spent cleaning up pollution there.

The justices said the company improperly tried to use the Superfund law to sue because the government had not demanded that the cleanup be done. (When EPA has higher priorities, private companies can not step in to clean up)<snip>

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the court, said that lower courts should reconsider whether to allow the lawsuit by Aviall Services Inc. against electrical product maker Cooper Industries. <snip>

[louis-t]

1. b*sh admin requires 0 accountability.

Their motto should be:"Letting someone else clean up our messes!"