Schmucker v. Johnson Controls, Inc.

Dist. Ct. did not err in entering judgment after bench trial in favor of defendants in action under section 6972(a) of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, alleging that defendants failed to take effective action to reduce amount of TCE in areas of plaintiffs’ homes and sources of water. Record showed that defendants connected plaintiffs’ homes to water main that drew water from unaffected area and installed systems to divert TCE away from plaintiffs’ homes, such that after systems had been installed no home registered TCE levels that exceeded safe thresholds. Also, plaintiffs could not point to any permit, standard, condition, requirement, prohibition, or order that defendant had violated, and internal EPA memorandum did not create enforceable rule. Also, plaintiff failed to present evidence of imminent and substantial endangerment to health or environment with respect to measures defendant had already taken to mitigate effects of TCE, especially where expert testimony found that plume of water containing TCH was not likely to impinge on aquifer from which resident drew their drinking water, and where current measurements indicate that level of danger from TCH contamination was negligible.