Opinion ID: 76726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standing Under the RCRA

Text: 17 First, we address whether Mrs. Parker had standing to assert the RCRA claims. The defendants contend that the plaintiffs failed to establish standing because they did not show an injury-in-fact. The Ninth Circuit, addressing standing in a case very similar to this one, found that the plaintiffs in that case made the requisite showing. There, the Covingtons, who lived across the street from a landfill, alleged that the operators of the landfill violated the RCRA. The Ninth Circuit held: 18 If the landfill is not run as required by RCRA, the Covingtons are directly confronted with the risks that RCRA sought to minimize: Fires, explosions, vectors, scavengers, and groundwater contamination, if such occur, threaten the Covingtons enjoyment of life and security of home. Violations of RCRA increase the risks of such injuries to the Covingtons. Such risks from improper operation of a landfill are in no way speculative when the landfill is your next-door neighbor. 19 Covington v. Jefferson County, 358 F.3d 626, 638 (9th Cir.2004). Here, Mrs. Parker's factual showing that the soil on her land was contaminated, that USTs were leaking, and that solid waste migrated onto the Parker property is sufficient to satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement. Id. 20 The defendants also challenge causation and redressability, arguing that any injury is not the result of a violation of the RCRA. The Parkers, however, recovered pieces of solid waste from the property and submitted these at trial. Such evidence shows likely violations of the RCRA by the defendants and, thus, the evidence shows causation. Finally, an injunction preventing the defendants from allowing such waste to migrate onto the Parker property would redress the injury.