A Montana Supreme Court ruling allowing landowners to pursue the cleanup of a contaminated site under state law conflicts federal law, Atlantic Richfield Co. said in its opening brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Superfund bars the landowners’ suit for cleanup of the the Anaconda Smelter site, ARCO said in its Aug. 21 brief.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a remedial plan for the site, so the landowners’ suit for restoration under common law can’t continue, the company said.
If the ruling is allowed to stand, “any landowner on any Superfund site could decide to shred EPA’s plans ...