Pollack v. United States DOD
From Conservapedia
In Pollack v. United States DOD, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 24352 (7th Cir. Oct. 18, 2007), the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that federal courts lacked jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit by a citizen complaining during a clean-up effort at a toxic waste site.
A plaintiff filed suit objecting to how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had not approved how the military and its contractor were cleaning up a toxic waste site. The court conceded that the plaintiff had some good arguments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. The court even agreed that plaintiff may be able to show that toxins were “known to have been released” on abutting land.
But Judge Ann Claire Williams, writing for a unanimous court, held that Congress had passed a law eliminating federal court jurisdiction over this type of claim. Section 113(h) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. § 9613(h), states that “No Federal Court shall have jurisdiction under Federal law ... to review any challenges to removal or remedial action” brought by a citizen “with regard to a removal where a remedial action is to be undertaken at the site.” Congress thereby prohibited challenges brought by citizens during a cleanup effort.
The Seventh Circuit candidly admitted that this amounts to a “blunt withdrawal of federal jurisdiction.” It then applied this “blunt” law unanimously to dismiss the lawsuit. It did so even though the plaintiff offered clever ways around this withdrawal of jurisdiction.
