Opinion ID: 1438955
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Test of Liability

Text: DNREC next contends that a corporate officer may be held liable under 7 Del.C. § 6308(4) for improperly disposing of hazardous waste. Section 6308 states in pertinent part: Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Secretary, upon receipt of information that the ... disposal of any hazardous waste may present an imminent and substantial hazard to the health of persons or to the environment, may take such action as he determines to be necessary to protect the health of such persons or the environment. The action the Secretary may take includes, but is not limited to ... (4) Directing Department personnel to undertake emergency cleanup and remedial measures. The Secretary may recover the costs of such measures from the responsible party.... DNREC's argument is premised on the proposition that the meaning of the phrase responsible party is consistent with the statutory definition of the term person in 7 Del.C. § 6302(10), and that common law tort principles, as well as persuasive federal common law, include officers, directors, or employees within the meaning of the term. The term responsible party is undefined by the statute; we will therefore apply its common, ordinary meaning. Coastal Barge, 492 A.2d at 1245. We find the common, ordinary meaning of responsible party to be a person who causes DNREC to take emergency remedial action resulting from the storage, transportation, treatment, disposal, or otherwise improper management of a hazardous waste. Section 6302(10) defines a person as an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, federal agency, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state or any interstate body. 7 Del.C. § 6302(10). Although the definition does not specifically mention officers of a corporation, the definition is broad enough to include a corporate officer as a responsible party under Section 6308(4) under certain circumstances. [10] Federal decisional law interpreting the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901-6992k (1990), also holds that responsible corporate officers may be held personally liable for the improper disposal of hazardous waste. United States v. Northeastern Pharmaceutical, 810 F.2d 726 (8th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 848, 108 S.Ct. 146, 98 L.Ed.2d 102 (1987); United States v. Production Plated Plastics, Inc., 742 F.Supp. 956 (W.D.Mich.1990), opinion adopted by, 955 F.2d 45 (6th Cir.1992), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 67, 121 L.Ed.2d 34 (1992); United States v. Conservation Chemical Company of Illinois, Inc., 733 F.Supp. 1215 (N.D.Ind.1989); United States v. Conservation Chemical Company of Illinois, Inc., 660 F.Supp. 1236 (N.D.Ind.1987). Delaware has undertaken the management of hazardous waste with a comprehensive plan that directly parallels the federal enactments on this subject. See 7 Del. C. §§ 6301-6319; 42 U.S.C., Subchapter III, §§ 6921-6939b (1990). In fact, much of the language and structure of the Delaware Act and the regulations through which it is implemented, Delaware Regulations Governing Hazardous Waste (1992), are similar to those in the federal act and its implementing regulations, 40 C.F.R. §§ 260-272 (1992). In our view, the General Assembly intended to impose personal liability under the Act in appropriate circumstances on corporate officers who improperly dispose of hazardous waste. This intent is apparent in the Findings and Purpose section of the Act, 7 Del. C. § 6301. Section 6301 provides that the General Assembly finds that public safety and health and the environment are threatened by unsound hazardous waste management practices, and proclaims that the purpose of the Act is to create a hazardous waste regulatory structure capable of protecting the public and the environment from unsound management practices. We further find evidence of the General Assembly's intent in the broad manner in which the Act defines the term person, 7 Del.C. § 6302(10), and in the vast array of enforcement tools with which DNREC is provided. 7 Del. C. § 6309. See Northeastern Pharmaceutical, 810 F.2d at 745 (imposing liability upon only the corporation, but not those corporate officers and employees who actually make corporate decisions, would be inconsistent with [the Legislature's] intent to impose liability upon the persons who are involved in the handling and disposal of hazardous substances). (Emphasis supplied.) We hold that corporate officers may be held personally liable in appropriate circumstances for actually making corporate decisions resulting in the improper disposition of hazardous waste under the Act. 7 Del. C. § 6308(4). Timothy P. Bjur and J. Jeffrey Reinholtz, 3A Fletcher Cyclopedia Corporations § 1135 (1990) (citations omitted) (hereinafter  Fletcher ): [C]orporate officers, charged in law with affirmative official responsibility in the management and control of the corporate business, cannot avoid personal liability for wrongs committed by claiming that they did not authorize and direct that which was done in the regular course of that business, with their knowledge and with their consent or approval, or such acquiescence on their part as warrants inferring such consent or approval. See also 2 Restatement of Agency 2d §§ 343-44, and Vuitch v. Furr, D.C.App., 482 A.2d 811, 821 (1984) (act or omission by corporate officer logically leads to inference he participated in act). It is not enough that the officer knew of an improper disposal. Simple knowledge is not sufficient for the imposition of personal liability. Rather, the officer must be shown to have been actively involved in the alleged violative activity. Conservation Chemical Co. of Illinois, 733 F.Supp. at 1221. The State must show that the officer directed, ordered, ratified, approved, or consented to the improper disposal. See Fletcher at § 1135. See also Northeastern Pharmaceutical, 810 F.2d at 740-745 (manager responsible for waste disposal found liable where he acted to dispose of waste). [11]