and bury them. The employees dug a hole on the grounds of the
treatment plant and dumped in the drums. Some of the drums were
rusted and leaking. The hole was not deep enough, so the employees
crushed the drums with a front-end loader to make them fit. The
refuse was then covered with sand. Almost two years later, one of the
city’s employees reported the incident to state authorities, who
referred the matter to the EPA. Investigation showed that the paint
had contaminated the soil. The United States brought criminal charges
against Hoflin for aiding and abetting the illegal dumping of
hazardous waste. Who wins? United States v. Hoflin, 880 F.2d 1033,
Web 1989 U.S. App. Lexis 10169 (United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit)
45.6 Nuclear Waste Metropolitan Edison Company owned and
operated two nuclear-fueled power plants at Three Mile Island near
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Both power plants were licensed by the
NRC after extensive proceedings and investigations, including the
preparation of the required environmental impact statements. When
one of the power plants was shut down for refueling, the other plant
suffered a serious accident that damaged the reactor. The governor of
Pennsylvania recommended an evacuation of all pregnant women and
small children, and many area residents did leave their homes for
several days. As it turned out, no dangerous radiation was released.
People Against Nuclear Energy (PANE), an association of area
residents who opposed further operation of the nuclear power plants
at Three Mile Island, sued to enjoin the plants from reopening. They
argued that the reopening of the plants would cause severe
psychological health damage to persons living in the vicinity and
serious damage to the stability and cohesiveness of the community.
Are these reasons sufficient to prevent the reopening of the nuclear
power plants? Metropolitan Edison Company v. People Against
Nuclear Energy, 460 U.S. 766, 103 S.Ct. 1556, 75 L.Ed.2d 534, Web
1983 U.S. Lexis 21 (Supreme Court of the United States)
45.7 Endangered Species The red-cockaded woodpecker is a small
bird that lives almost exclusively in old pine forests throughout the
southern United States. Its survival depends on a very specialized