In re General Electric Co.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) denied a petition for review of a corrective action permit imposing remediation requirements for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Housatonic River in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The petitioners had argued that EPA failed to demonstrate that a site near the river was suitable for disposal of PCBs, arguing, among other things, that “[o]bviously, no onsite facility can be guaranteed forever against leakage, especially considering the effects of climate change.” The petitioners also cited the risks of disturbance of contaminated sediment during climate-related disasters where PCBs were left in the environment. The EAB found that the petitioners failed to advance a “substantive critique” of EPA’s analysis of the risks “short of vague allegations … that eventually landfills will leak and groundwater monitoring will fail.”