Reply #5: US loses landmark Supreme Court environmental case [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: AFP

US loses landmark Supreme Court environmental case
24 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government must foot the bill for environmental clean-up costs paid voluntarily by a company hired on a federal contract, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In a ruling that could expose the government to billions in claims, the nation's top court found in favor of Atlantic Research Corp., which in the 1980s built rocket motors for the Pentagon at an Arkansas facility.

Atlantic Research voluntarily cleaned up soil and water contamination caused by residue from burnt rocket fuel, and later sought to recover the costs from the government under a 1980 environmental law.

The government argued that it was only liable if a court had ordered the company to clean up the site, not if it had done the work on its own



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070611/pl_afp/usjusticeenvironment