Colorado court involvement in chemical spill clean-up activities

Abstract

Judicial involvement was utilized to force the owners of a pesticide formulation plant to decontaminate property that had been covered with toxic pesticides having the potential to contaminate both surface and groundwater supplies in the East Denver metropolitan area. This case represented the first use of the Colorado state court system in dealing with a hazardous waste "spill." In this case, judicial intervention was unsatisfactory because of the delays involved. Other courses of action will be considered in future cases of a similar nature.