Opinion ID: 709549
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: ATSDR's Hanford Activities As Taken For Purposes of

Text: CERCLA's Citizen Suit Provision 65 Section 9613(h) contains an exception providing that federal district courts have jurisdiction over citizen suits alleging that the removal or remedial action taken under Sec. 9604 ... was in violation of any requirement of this chapter. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9613(h)(4) (emphasis added). Plaintiffs argue that the ATSDR's health assessments at Hanford constitute action taken, and thus their claim for injunctive relief should be allowed to go forward. The district court, however, concluded that ATSDR's health assessments are not really separable from the whole of the removal action at issue. Hanford Downwinders Coalition, Inc., 841 F.Supp. at 1060. We agree. 66 The McClellan court effectively summarized why citizen suits brought under Sec. 9613(h)(4) cannot escape Sec. 9613(h)'s jurisdictional bar when cleanup activity is ongoing at a CERCLA site: 67 Section [9613(h) ] protects the execution of a CERCLA plan during its pendency from lawsuits that might interfere with the expeditious cleanup effort. This results furthers the policy underlying CERCLA by allowing a quick response to serious hazards. Congress concluded that the need for such action was paramount, and that peripheral disputes, including those over what measures actually are necessary to clean-up the site and remove the hazard, may not be brought while the cleanup is in progress. 68 McClellan, 47 F.3d at 329 (citations omitted). The cleanup at Hanford is clearly in its pendency. Not only do intra-agency and intra-governmental efforts to provide for the physical cleanup of the site continue, but the ATSDR also continues to monitor Hanford-related research, works with other governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in implementing the FFA Action Plan, and considers the initiation of medical surveillance programs. Although preliminary health assessments have been completed, those assessments have not yet been finalized. Thus, because the ATSDR has not yet taken action for purposes of CERCLA's citizen suit provision, Sec. 9613(h) prevents the HDC from mounting legal challenges to the ATSDR's efforts. 17 69 We conclude that the district court's application of Sec. 9613(h) to HDC's suit was proper. 70