FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1997                              (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
  FEDERAL APPEALS COURT IN PHILADELPHIA AFFIRMS EPA'S AUTHORITY
      TO CLEAN UP HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES UNDER SUPERFUND LAW
               WITHOUT BEING DELAYED BY LITIGATION


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal appeals court today upheld a
ruling that lawsuits may not be brought by private parties to
delay or stop the government's cleanup of hazardous waste sites
under the Superfund law, the Justice Department announced.  The
decision underscores that citizens can participate in Superfund
cleanup decisions before they are implemented, but cannot delay
them in court afterwords.

     In a unanimous (12-0) decision, the full 3rd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in Philadelphia today dismissed an action
against the United States Environmental Protection Agency brought
by parties seeking to halt the agency's cleanup of the Drake
Chemical site in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.  The U.S. District
Court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, first dismissed the case in
1996.  
 
     From the 1940s to 1982, a chemical manufacturing facility
was operated on the site, leaving behind soils, chemical storage
tanks and wastewater lagoons contaminated with a variety of toxic
substances that are hazardous to human health and the
environment.

     Consistent with the decisions of every other federal appeals
court that has considered the issue of judicial review, the Third
Circuit upheld the government's position that Congress, in
enacting the Superfund law, intended for citizen-initiated
judicial review of EPA's cleanup actions to occur only after
cleanup is completed to ensure that time-consuming litigation
would not hinder efforts to promptly cleanup contaminated
hazardous waste sites.

     However, the Superfund law does permit citizens to comment
and participate extensively in the selection and implementation
of any cleanup plan before it begins.

In its ruling, the Third Circuit overruled its earlier decision
in United States v. Princeton Gamma-Tech, which held that a
private party may bring suit in federal court to stop EPA's
ongoing cleanup of a Superfund site.

     "This is a big victory for the American people whose health
and well-being are threatened by hazardous waste sites," said
Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. 
"This ruling means we can continue our commitment to clean up
Superfund sites as quickly as possible."

     "The court's decision allows EPA to move forward and
complete the Superfund cleanup at the highly contaminated Drake
site," said W. Michael McCabe, EPA's Regional Administrator. 
"With the support of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, EPA will
continue to work with all citizens of the Lock Haven area to
ensure that the cleanup will protect human health and the
environment."

     The case is Clinton County Commissioners v. EPA, docket
number 96-7683.   
                                ###
97-272