U.S. v. Wade, 82-1715
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before HUNTER, HIGGINBOTHAM; JAMES HUNTER, III |
| Citation | 713 F.2d 49 |
| Parties | , 13 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,815 UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. WADE, Melvin R. an individual; Eastern Rubber Reclaiming, Inc., a corporation, and ABM Disposal Service Co., Inc., a corporation, Tyson, Franklin P., an individual, Barnhouse, Ellis, an individual, Slass, Larry H., as Trustee in Bankruptcy of ABM Disposal Service Co., Inc., Apollo Metals, Inc.; Congoleum Corporation, Gould, Inc.; H.K. Porter Company, Inc.; Sandvik Steel, Inc.; Superior Steel Company. |
| Docket Number | No. 82-1715,82-1715 |
| Decision Date | 05 August 1983 |
Page 49
v.
WADE, Melvin R. an individual; Eastern Rubber Reclaiming,
Inc., a corporation, and ABM Disposal Service Co., Inc., a
corporation, Tyson, Franklin P., an individual, Barnhouse,
Ellis, an individual, Slass, Larry H., as Trustee in
Bankruptcy of ABM Disposal Service Co., Inc., Apollo Metals,
Inc.; Congoleum Corporation, Gould, Inc.; H.K. Porter
Company, Inc.; Sandvik Steel, Inc.; Superior Steel Company.
Third Circuit.
Decided Aug. 5, 1983.
Mary L. Walker (argued), Deputy Asst. Atty. Gen., Washington, D.C., Peter F. Vaira, Jr., U.S. Atty., Philadelphia, Pa., Stephen D. Ramsey, Martin W. Matzen, Christopher Harris, Wendy B. Jacobs, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for appellant-
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; Robert M. Perry, Associate Administrator for Legal and Enforcement Counsel and Gen. Counsel, E.P.A., Washington, D.C., Joseph J.C. Donovan, Office of Regional Counsel, E.P.A., Region III, Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel.Patrick T. Ryan (argued), Cynthia J. Giles, T. Andrew Culbert, Drinker, Biddle & Reath, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant-appellee Congoleum Corp.
Calvin P. Sawyier (argued), Edward J. Wendrow, Sidney Margolis, Winston & Strawn, Chicago, Ill., James D. Wilder, LaBrum & Doak, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant-appellee Gould, Inc.
David Richman, John A. Guernsey, Nicholas Kouletsis, Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant-appellee H.K. Porter Co.
Henry S. Ruth, Jr., Scott D. Patterson, Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul, Philadelphia, Pa., Robert A. McTamaney, Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, New York, N.Y., for defendant-appellee Sandvik, Inc.
Francis E. Marshall, Anthony P. Tinari, Michaelisa Marshall Pugh, Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant-appellee Superior Tube Co.
Bertram A. Stone, Stone, Pogrund & Korey, Chicago, Ill., Austin J. McGreal, McGill & McGreal, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant-appellee Apollo Metals, Inc.
Before HUNTER, HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges, and ZIEGLER, * District Judge.
JAMES HUNTER, III, Circuit Judge:
The United States initiated this action under section 7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 ("RCRA"), 42 U.S.C. § 6973 (1976 & Supp. V 1981), and section 106(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. § 9606(a) (Supp. V 1981), seeking, inter alia, permanent injunctive relief to remedy an alleged health and safety threat posed by the leakage of hazardous chemicals from a dumpsite in Chester, Pennsylvania (the "Wade site"). In its second amended complaint the government named as defendants the owners of the site, the transporters of waste to the site, and the alleged generators of the hazardous waste disposed of at the site prior to February 1978. On September 7, 1982, the district court entered an order dismissing the government's second amended complaint as against the alleged generators, holding that section 7003 of RCRA and section 106(a) of CERCLA could not be used to confer liability on nonnegligent, past off-site generators of hazardous wastes.
On November 3, 1982, the government filed a notice of appeal from the district court's order. On December 22, 1982, the appellees filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Because we hold that the district court's order is not a properly appealable order under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) (1976), we will grant appellees' motion to dismiss.
On April 20, 1979, the United States filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Melvin R. Wade, Eastern Rubber Reclaiming, Inc., and ABM Disposal Service seeking relief under section 7003 of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. § 6973 (1976 & Supp. V 1981). 1 The government sought an order
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enjoining defendants from storing or disposing any solid or hazardous waste at the Wade site and compelling defendants to formulate and implement a plan for removing the waste currently on that property. On March 14, 1980, the government filed an amended complaint adding as defendants Franklin P. Tyson and Ellis Barnhouse, principals of ABM, and Larry H. Slass, trustee in bankruptcy for ABM. The government again sought injunctive relief under section 7003.On November 10, 1981, the government filed a second amended complaint adding as defendants Apollo Metals, Inc., Congoleum Corp., Gould, Inc., H.K. Porter Co., Inc., Sandvik Steel, Inc., and Superior Tube Co. In its second amended complaint the government alleged that those added companies generated some of the hazardous waste deposited at the Wade site prior to 1978. The government repeated its claim for relief under section 7003 of RCRA and added a claim for relief under section 106(a) of CERCLA. 2
On February 4, 1982, Gould, Inc., one of the alleged waste generators, filed a motion to dismiss the government's second amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). On September 7, 1982, the district court filed an opinion and order granting the motion to dismiss. United States v. Wade, 546 F.Supp. 785 (E.D.Pa.1982). Examining the statutory language and legislative history of section 7003 of RCRA and section 106(a) of CERCLA, the district court concluded that they provided no statutory basis for relief against non-negligent, past off-site generators of hazardous wastes. Id. at 788. Accordingly, the district court entered an order dismissing the complaint as against the alleged generators. The district court's decision did not address the government's claims against the other defendants. 3
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On November 3, 1982, the government filed a notice of appeal from the district court's September 7 order dismissing the government's...
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