Clinton

The Environmental Protection Agency ordered plaintiff to dispose of ore containing gold and silver because it also contained small quantities of lead. We must resolve various questions of statutory etymology on the way to deciding who must pay for this disposal.

The Ore in Motion and at Rest

“Ore Pile #2” (02P) at A & W Smelter’s processing facility in the Mojave Desert contained ore that had been piling up since the Sixties. The ore included small amounts of silver and gold, not quite enough to justify smelting by A & W’s methods. Unhappily for A & W, the ore also contained some naturally-occurring lead, with some slag mixed in as well. Slag is a waste product of smelting.

Under pressure from state and federal authorities, A & W decided to move 02P. To that end, it contracted with Roelof Mining Company to process the ore in Baja, Mexico. A & W packed the ore into drums and started shipping it, but several trucks were stopped at the border and their contents labeled hazardous because of the lead. Several months later, Mexico returned these trucks to the United States. The EPA ordered A & W to take this ore back within three days, but A & W was unable to arrange a pickup on…