The Provisions of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act

The Court in Redland Soccer Club v. Department of the Army, 548 Pa. 178, 696 A.2d 137 (1997) and Centolanza v. Lehigh Valley Dairies, 540 Pa. 398, 658 A.2d 336 (1995) noted the following pertinent statutory provisions of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (the Clean Streams Law, the Air Pollution and Control Act, the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act), 35 P.S. 6020.702 and 6020.1115: 1115. Citizen suits (a) General rule.-A person who has experienced or is threatened with personal injury or is threatened with personal injury or property damage as a result of a release of a hazardous substance may file a civil action against any person to prevent or abate a violation of this act or of any order, regulation, standard or approval issued under this act. (b) Jurisdiction.-The courts of common pleas shall have jurisdiction over any actions authorized under this section .... the court may grant any equitable relief; may impose a civil penalty under section 1104; and may award litigation costs, including reasonable attorney and witness fees, to the prevailing or substantially prevailing party whenever the court determines such an award is appropriate. 702. Scope of liability (a) General rule.--A person who is responsible for a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance from a site as specified in section 701 is strictly liable for the following response costs and damages which result from the release or threatened release or to which the release or threatened release significantly contributes: (1) Costs of interim response which are reasonable in light of the information available to the department at the time the interim response was taken. (2) Reasonable and necessary or appropriate costs of remedial response incurred by the United States, the Commonwealth or a political subdivision. (3) Other reasonable and necessary or appropriate costs of response incurred by any other person. (4) Damages for injury to, destruction of or loss of natural resources within this Commonwealth or belonging to, managed by, controlled by or appertaining to the United States, the Commonwealth or a political subdivision. This paragraph includes the reasonable costs of assessing the injury, destruction or loss resulting from such a release. (5) the cost of a health assessment or health effects study. In Redland, the Supreme Court considered the request in a citizen suit brought under the Act to recover the costs of medical monitoring by the establishment under the authority of Section 1115(b) of a medical trust fund, arguing that Section 702(a), though not explicitly iterating such a recovery item, encompassed a medical monitoring system, based upon the definition of the term "response," which is: Action taken in the event of a release ... of a hazardous substance ... into the environment to study, assess, prevent, minimize or eliminate the release in order to protect the present or future public health, safety or welfare or the environment. the term includes, but is not limited to: (2) Actions at or near the location of the release, such as studies; health assessments; ... and monitoring and maintenance reasonably required to assure that these actions protect the public health, safety, and welfare and the environment. (5) Other actions necessary to assess, prevent, minimize or mitigate damage to the public health, safety or welfare or the environment which may otherwise result from a release ... of hazardous substances ... .Section 103 of the Act, 35 P.S. 6020.103.