Tennessee Riverkeeper, Inc. v. 3M Co.

234 F. Supp. 3d 1153, 83 ERC (BNA) 2356, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27435, 2017 WL 784991
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedFebruary 10, 2017
DocketCivil Action Number 5:16-cv-01029-AKK
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 234 F. Supp. 3d 1153 (Tennessee Riverkeeper, Inc. v. 3M Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tennessee Riverkeeper, Inc. v. 3M Co., 234 F. Supp. 3d 1153, 83 ERC (BNA) 2356, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27435, 2017 WL 784991 (N.D. Ala. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ABDUL K. KALLON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Tennessee Riverkeeper, Inc. (the “Riv-erkeeper”) filed this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under Section 7002(a)(1)(B) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. [1156]*1156§ 6972(a)(1)(B) (the “RCRA”). Doc. 1. The court has for consideration motions to dismiss filed by BFI Waste Systems of Alabama, L.L.C., doc. 28; 3M Company, doc. 36; ■ and the' City of Decatur,. Alabama, doc. 39. The motions, are fully briefed, docs. 33; 37; 40; 42; 43; 45; 46; 47; 51, and ripe for review. For the reasons stated below, each motion is due to be denied.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a pleading must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” “[T]he pleading standard Rule 8 announces does not require ‘detailed factual allegations,’ but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). Mere “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action” are insufficient. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). “Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) permits dismissal when a complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible oh its'face.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). A complaint states a facially plausible claim for relief “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citation omitted). The complaint must establish “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id.; see also Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (“Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.”). Ultimately, this inquiry is a “context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND1

This action arises out of defendants’ alleged discharge of hazardous, and solid waste containing perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (“PFOS”), and related chemicals near Decatur, Alabama, resulting in “the contamination of groundwater, sediments, private water supplies, the Tennessee River and its tributaries, fish, and public drinking water supplies that utilize water from the Tennessee River.” Doc. 1 at 1. Due to the stable carbon-fluorine bonds in.PFOA and PFOS, “[tjhere is no known environmental breakdown mechanism for these chemicals,” id. at 10. Studies, including one by an independent science panel, have shown that human absorption of PFOA and PFOS may cause “cancer, immunotoxicity, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and high cholesterol.” Id. at 10-11.

[1157]*11573M owns and operates manufacturing and disposal facilities in Decatur, Alabama, which have released and continue to release PFOA, PFOS, and related chemicals into surface water and groundwater, through which the chemicals are ultimately-discharged into the Tennessee River and its tributaries. Id. at 8. 3M has also “disposed of sludge from its on-site wastewa-ter treatment plant.” Id. Moreover, 3M owns the Bert Jeffries Landfill “which, for many years, accepted industrial waste and sludge contaminated with PFOA, PFOS and related chemicals from 3M’s Decatur facility.” Id. at 9, BFI owns and operates the Morris Farm Landfill, which has also accepted contaminated sludge from 3M’s Decatur facility, resulting in “groundwater contamination and the generation of contaminated leachate.” Doc. 1 at 9. Finally, the City owns and operates the Morgan County Landfill, which has accepted the “majority” of the industrial waste from 3M’s Decatur facility as well as 3M’s onsite sludge, resulting in groundwater contamination and the generation of contaminated leachate. Id.

In May 2016, the EPA announced Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS of 0.07 parts per billion (“ppb”). Id. at 11. Monitoring at defendants’ facilities has revealed levels far in excess of these advisories. For example, Riverkeeper alleges that “[concentrations of PFOA as high as 4,980 ppb and PFOS as high as 3,890 ppb ... more than 70,000 and 55,000 times higher than the EPA’s newly-promulgated safety advisory—have been found in groundwater on the 3M site along the south bank of the Tennessee River.” Doc. 1 at 13. Tests at the Morris Farm Landfill have shown PFOS concentrations as high as 22.5 ppb. Id. at 15. Additionally, tests of groundwater in and around the Bert Jeffries Landfill have shown PFOA and PFOS concentrations as high as 19.4 ppb and 25.1 ppb, respectively. Id. at 16. Riverkeeper alleges that defendants have long known of the toxicity and persistence of PFOA, PFOS, and related chemicals, but have “knowingly and intentionally disposed of solid and hazardous waste containing these chemicals” and failed to carry out adequate remedial measures. Id. at 12.

III. ANALYSIS

The RCRA established a “eradle-to-grave system” for regulating the disposal of solid and hazardous waste. United States v. ILCO, Inc., 996 F.2d 1126, 1130 (11th Cir. 1993). The RCRA also allows approved states to implement and enforce its provisions, and “a state’s EPA-approved program under the RCRA operates ‘in lieu of the Federal program.’ ” Parker v. Scrap Metal Processors, Inc., 386 F.3d 993, 1006 n.13 (11th Cir. 2004) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 6926(b)). See also Boyes v. Shell Oil Prods. Co., 199 F.3d 1260, 1267 (11th Cir. 2000) (quoting § 6902(a)(7)) (“Congress explicitly sought to establish a ‘viable Federal-State partnership to carry out’ the purposes of the statute.”); Old Bridge Chemicals, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep’t of Envtl. Protection, 965 F.2d 1287, 1296 (3d Cir. 1992) (“RCRA sets a floor, not a' ceiling, for state regulation of hazardous wastes.”).

Alabama has such an EPA-approved program pertaining to solid waste landfill permits. See 59 Fed, Reg. 9979 (Mar.

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234 F. Supp. 3d 1153, 83 ERC (BNA) 2356, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27435, 2017 WL 784991, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tennessee-riverkeeper-inc-v-3m-co-alnd-2017.