United States v. Martin

No. 99 C 1130 (N.D. Ill. July 26, 2000)

ELR Digest

The court orders the beneficiary of a land trust that formerly held title to property subject to an investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to pay a $ 45,525 civil penalty for failing to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) CERCLA § 104(e) information request and to provide EPA a completed financial statement form and access to land trust files. The court first holds that equitable enforcement of the information request is warranted. EPA's investigation was properly authorized, limited in scope, and in furtherance of the legislative purpose of CERCLA. Moreover, an environmental consultant's affidavit presented on behalf of the beneficiary did nothing to undermine the fact that EPA had a reasonable basis to believe that there may be a threat of a release of hazardous substances at the property. In fact, EPA actually discovered hazardous materials on the site. The court next holds that the beneficiary has not complied with the information request. Although the beneficiary eventually responded to certain aspects of the information request—607 days after the deadline—he still has yet to submit a financial statement form signed by himself and has failed to provide EPA access to land trust files for the property. Last, the court orders the beneficiary to respond to the outstanding requests for information and to pay a $ 75 a day penalty for each of the 607 days of noncompliance. In addition, the beneficiary must pay $ 75 per day for each day he fails to respond to EPA's outstanding requests. If the beneficiary still has not provided the requested information within 14 days of the court's opinion, the penalty will be increased to $ 1,000 per day.

The full text of this opinion is available from ELR (12 pp., ELR Order No. L-246).

[Counsel not available at this printing.]

[30 ELR 20756]

[OPINION OMITTED BY PUBLISHER IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]