Opinion ID: 728910
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Component Parts

Text: 29 The district court held, in Murtha II, 815 F.Supp. at 546, that [a]bsent a finding by EPA that a particular product warrants classification as a [hazardous substance] ..., it cannot be found that the product, notwithstanding its constituent elements, is an [hazardous substance] or [hazardous waste]. It later clarified that holding, by explaining that mere presence of an element, a named [hazardous substance], as a constituent of a product does not render the product a [hazardous substance]. Murtha III, 840 F.Supp. at 184. 30 In Murtha I we rejected the contention that a specific mixture or waste solution must be listed within § 9601(14) or incorporated by reference in order to fall within CERCLA's coverage. We explained that [w]hen a mixture or waste solution contains hazardous substances, that mixture is itself hazardous for purposes of determining CERCLA liability. Liability under CERCLA depends only on the presence in any form of listed hazardous substances. Murtha I, 958 F.2d at 1201; see also United States v. Alcan Aluminum Corp., 964 F.2d 252, 259-61 (3d Cir.1992) (rejecting quantitative requirement); Amoco Oil Co. v. Borden, Inc., 889 F.2d 664, 669 (5th Cir.1989) (same). 31 It is enough that a mixture or waste solution contain a hazardous substance for that mixture to be deemed hazardous under CERCLA. The waste product itself need not be listed by name--instead of its constituent components--to fall within the Act. Murtha I, 958 F.2d at 1201; see also Louisiana-Pacific Corp. v. ASARCO Inc., 24 F.3d 1565, 1573 (9th Cir.1994) (holding that even if product not specifically listed as hazardous substance, if components include hazardous substances, product is regulated by CERCLA), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1103, 115 S.Ct. 780, 130 L.Ed.2d 674 (1995); Eagle-Picher Indus. v. EPA, 759 F.2d 922, 930-31 (D.C.Cir.1985) (rejecting contention that because most mining wastes and fly ash contain some hazardous substances, mining wastes and fly ash must therefore be specifically listed as hazardous substances). 32 Our understanding is also consistent with Congress' plan. Legislative history reveals that the release of any [listed hazardous or toxic substance] or any constituent of them invokes the notice requirements and response provisions and any costs of removal or remedial action or any damages are subject to the liability provisions of the bill. Senate Report at 24-27, Leg.Hist. at 331 (emphasis added). In short, it makes no difference that the specific wastes disposed of by the appellees were not themselves listed as hazardous substances, because so long as their component parts were listed as hazardous substances there may be CERCLA liability. 33 Appellees declare this approach will lead to CERCLA liability if a discarded object had any EPA listed hazardous substance in its chemical genealogy, whether or not the chemical component's characteristics had been unalterably changed in the manufacturing process. Even if this objection is sound in theory, it is not relevant. The instant case involves not only discarded objects like pens or plastic containers that might include a hazardous substance in their chemical make-up. Appellees are accused of dumping waste that contained hazardous substances in separable, identifiable forms. According to an affidavit submitted by the coalitions, the cumulative waste stream discarded in the Murtha's landfills included municipal sludge, incinerator ash, varnishes, paints, tar remover, caulking compounds, pesticides, glues, degreasers, and automotive lubricants. Obviously, disposal of this sort of waste poses a greater threat of releasing hazardous substances than is presented by--to use an example offered by the appellees at oral argument--the disposal of a single plastic pen. 34 In an attempt to avoid this conclusion, appellees invoke Massachusetts v. Blackstone Valley Elec. Co., 67 F.3d 981, 992-93 (1st Cir.1995). Blackstone held that the EPA should make an initial determination of whether ferric ferrocyanide (FFC)--in this case a blue-colored substance on wood chips--is a cyanide and therefore a hazardous substance. The First Circuit ruled that even if FFC contained cyanide as a chemical component, the cyanide might not exist in a form convertible to free cyanide and therefore might not be a CERCLA hazardous substance. Id. at 990-91. However, in this case, the First Circuit focused on whether FFC was a hazardous substance. It did not suggest that were FFC found to be a hazardous substance, liability might be avoided because wood chips--the product allegedly discarded by the polluter--were not in themselves hazardous substances within the Act's definition. In short, the appellees' reliance on Blackstone is misplaced. 35 Thus, those dismissals in the present case that were predicated on the notion that a waste product is not covered by CERCLA unless specifically listed as a hazardous substance--even when its component parts are hazardous substances--misconstrued CERCLA and must be reversed.