Source: Kris Maher, Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2014
Six months after a chemical spill fouled a vital West Virginia water supply, a fight is brewing over the tons of waste it left behind. The small city of Hurricane, W.Va., and surrounding Putnam County, want two subsidiaries of Waste Management Inc. that operate a local landfill to dig up and remove 228 tons of waste containing the chemical that contaminated the region’s water supply in January. The municipalities sued the companies in federal court in May, arguing that the waste is hazardous and not suited to the solid-waste landfill that handles ordinary trash. They said rain and leached materials eventually flow to a collection pond, and then a wastewater treatment plant before being discharged into a creek…. The case could have implications beyond West Virginia, say legal experts, by setting a precedent for when third parties can challenge what regulators deem to be hazardous or safe substances. A judge has asked for additional briefs from both sides….
Related:
Putnam commissioners plan federal lawsuit over chemical in landfill
Source: Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette, April 15, 2014
Putnam County commissioners agreed Tuesday to hire the former head of the state Department of Environmental Protection to help force the removal of contaminated material from the Elk River chemical spill that ended up in a Hurricane landfill. Commissioners agreed to split a $60,000 retainer with the city of Hurricane to hire Charleston lawyer Mike Callaghan, DEP secretary from 2000 to 2003, and several other attorneys with national environmental experience to file a federal lawsuit against Waste Management. The goal is to force Waste Management to remove contaminated wastewater mixed with sawdust from the landfill. The suit could also seek to recover damages and “all appropriate costs of response to any nuisance conditions or endangerments” to the environment and to public safety and welfare, the contract states. …
….Freedom leaked the chemicals into the Elk River on Jan. 9, fouling the water supply for about 300,000 West Virginians. DEP has said Freedom’s site cleanup must ensure that MCHM doesn’t get into waterways, so any rainwater or snow melt that runs across the site is being collected. DEP has said the remaining wastewater is being trucked to disposal sites in Ohio and North Carolina. ….