Next month, General Electric Co. will try to convince a federal appeals court to put limits on the U.S. government’s most powerful legal prod to push corporations to clean up toxic waste sites.
The oral argument, slated for May 18 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, marks the latest chapter in GE’s 10-year effort to prove unconstitutional a key section of the federal Superfund statute. The challenge focuses on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to issue “unilateral administrative orders” requiring companies to clean up contaminated sites or face stiff penalties. According to GE, the orders violate the right to due process because the companies must spend money and often lose market value before they can challenge the order in front of a judge.
