NJ officials filed suit in federal court in New York city, charging the solid waste from the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, NY, was polluting waters that flow into NJ and posing a serious health risk to state residents. The lawsuit, filed by the NJ State Attorney General's office and the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), says the city is violating the federal Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The suit asks the district court judge to allow the state to join a federal suit filed for the same reason in 1979 against NYC by Woodbridge Township, NJ and asks the judge to order the city to permanently curtail the pollution and immediately end use of the landfill.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

Descriptor terms: nj; ny; lawsuits; dep; clean water act; fresh kill landfill; landfilling; health; resource conservation and recovery act; water pollution; compliance; rcra; interstate pollution;