In a dispute over a contaminated California site, the city of Los Angeles has joined environmentalists in litigation to force the Department of Energy (DOE) to comply with a Clinton-era cleanup agreement with EPA that the agency claims it lacks the authority to enforce.
If the suit -- filed Oct. 21 in U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California -- is successful, it could force DOE compliance with strict Superfund cleanup standards at more than 100 contaminated sites nationwide.