[CPEO-BIF] "Fort Smith [Arkansas] has no authority in Whirlpool issue"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Attorney: Fort Smith has no authority in Whirlpool issue

by Ryan Saylor
Fort Smith City Wire (AR)
Octobert 22, 2013

Fort Smith City Directors hoping for some sort of October surprise that would have given them broad legal powers to enforce the city's wishes and demands on Whirlpool in their cleanup of trichloroethylene (TCE) were given the news on Tuesday (Oct. 22) that likely no legal remedies are available to the city.

TCE is a potentially cancer-causing chemical that Whirlpool officials admit leaked into the groundwater from its use as a degreaser.

According to City Attorney Jerry Canfield, while the city does have broad powers in various matters, situations such as the cleanup of the TCE contamination near Whirlpool's now-shuttered manufacturing facility in south Fort Smith are under the authority of the state and therefore supersedes any power or authority the city might have had, adding that the "state's power is dominant."

…

For the entire article, see
http://www.thecitywire.com/node/30151#.UmdU9CTUa5t

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650-961-8918 or 650-969-1545
Fax: 650-961-8918
LSiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org




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