## Facts

- Bethlehem Steel Corporation owned and operated an integrated steelmaking facility in Burns Harbor, Indiana.
- The United States, acting through EPA enforcement authority, alleged ongoing violations of hazardous-waste requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and underground-injection requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
- The facility generated waste ammonia liquor (WAL) from coke-oven operations and disposed of it by injecting it under pressure into two on-site Class I underground injection wells.
- The facility also generated electroplating and other wastewater-treatment sludges and managed them in on-site finishing lagoons and a landfill.
- Bethlehem operated under RCRA “interim status” while its hazardous-waste permit application was pending, but the government alleged Bethlehem failed to comply with interim-status standards.
- The United States filed an enforcement action seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties based on six claims tied to the two waste streams and associated management units.
- The district court granted partial summary judgment for the United States on all six claims and entered a permanent injunction ordering Bethlehem to comply with RCRA and SDWA obligations; civil-penalty amounts had not yet been finally set when Bethlehem appealed.
- The court of appeals exercised jurisdiction over the injunction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1).

## Issues

1. Whether the finishing lagoons and landfill containing electroplating-related sludges were hazardous-waste-management units subject to RCRA interim-status and permitting requirements.
2. Whether the electroplating sludges and waste ammonia liquor qualified as “solid waste” and “hazardous waste” under RCRA and its regulations, triggering RCRA management standards.
3. Whether disposal of WAL via Class I underground injection wells violated SDWA underground-injection-control requirements or permit limitations, supporting injunctive relief.
4. Whether summary judgment and the permanent injunction were proper in scope and supported by the established statutory violations.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment for the United States on liability and affirmed the permanent injunction.
- The court held that RCRA’s definition of “solid waste” is broad and expressly includes sludges and liquid wastes, defeating arguments that the wastes fell outside RCRA based on form or method of disposal.
- The court upheld treating the lagoons and landfill as hazardous-waste-management units because hazardous electroplating sludges were managed there, making RCRA interim-status standards applicable.
- The court concluded that interim status did not excuse noncompliance; failure to meet interim-status standards supported enforcement and injunctive relief.
- The court upheld injunctive relief under the SDWA for the underground injection of WAL into Class I wells where the record supported violations of applicable UIC requirements and permit constraints.
- The court sustained the injunction as an appropriate equitable remedy tied to enforcing existing statutory and regulatory duties, given established and allegedly ongoing violations.

## Legal Principles

- RCRA “solid waste” includes sludges and liquid wastes; hazardous-waste regulation can apply to onsite management practices, including lagooning, landfilling, and injection-related disposal activities.
- Onsite lagoons and landfills that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous wastes may be regulated as hazardous-waste-management units subject to RCRA permitting and interim-status requirements.
- RCRA interim status is conditional; operating during permit processing requires compliance with interim-status standards, and noncompliance can independently support injunctive enforcement.
- Hazardous-waste disposal by underground injection may implicate both RCRA and the SDWA; SDWA’s UIC program authorizes injunctive relief to prevent endangerment to underground sources of drinking water.
- A permanent injunction may be entered on summary judgment in a federal environmental enforcement action when statutory violations are established as a matter of law and the remedy is framed as compliance with governing requirements.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit upheld federal injunctive enforcement requiring Bethlehem’s Burns Harbor facility to comply with RCRA hazardous-waste rules for sludges managed in lagoons and a landfill and to comply with SDWA UIC requirements for underground injection of waste ammonia liquor, affirming liability and the compliance-focused injunction.


United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 38 F.3d 862 (7th Cir. 1994)