Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9109 – Enforcement
(a) Whenever, in the opinion of the Secretary, a person:
(1) Is a potentially responsible party; and
(2) Has been notified of such person’s potential liability pursuant to §§ 9104 and 9105 of this title; and
(3) Has not submitted a proposed settlement or has submitted a proposed settlement and the Secretary has rejected the proposal, the Secretary may seek to have the potentially responsible party perform a remedy at a facility by giving written notice to the person;
a. Specifying the basis of the person’s liability under this chapter for a remedy at the facility;
b. Identifying the remedy to be performed by the person at the facility, and the timeframe for its completion;
c. Advising that a public hearing, conducted pursuant to §§ 6004 and 6006 of this title, on the person’s alleged liability, and the remedy to be performed and the timeframe for its completion, under this chapter may be had if requested within 30 days of the notice; and
d. Notifying that the proposed remedy, and the timeframe for its completion, will be ordered unless a public hearing is requested.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9109
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Environment: means the navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, ocean waters, and any other surface water, ground water, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata or ambient air within the State. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9103
- Facility: means any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, vessel, aircraft, or any site or area where a hazardous substance has been generated, manufactured, refined, transported, stored, treated, handled, recycled, released, disposed of, placed or otherwise come to be located. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9103
- Person: means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, state government agency, unit of local government, school district, conservation district, federal government agency, Indian tribe or interstate body. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9103
- Potentially responsible party: means any person identified pursuant to § 9105(a)(1) through (6) of this title as a person liable with respect to a facility. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9103
- Release: means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant), but excludes:
- Remedy: means any action, response or expenditure consistent with the purposes of this chapter to identify, minimize or eliminate any imminent threat posed by any hazardous substances to public health or welfare or the environment including preparation of any plans, conducting of any studies and any investigative, oversight of remedy or monitoring activities with respect to any release or imminent threat of release of a hazardous substance and any health assessments, risk assessments or health effect studies or natural resource damage assessments conducted in order to determine the risk or potential risk to public health or welfare or the environment. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9103
- Secretary: means Secretary of the Department or the Secretary's designee. See Delaware Code Title 7 Sec. 9103
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) Whenever the Secretary determines that there exists an imminent danger that requires immediate remedy to protect public health or welfare or the environment, the Secretary may seek such injunctive relief or issue an order without prior notice or opportunity to submit a proposed settlement agreement.
(c) To enforce the order, the Secretary may bring an action in the Court of Chancery against any potentially responsible party who without sufficient cause, fails to comply with an order issued under subsection (a) or (b) of this section.
(d) The Secretary may bring an action in the Superior Court to recover from any potentially responsible party all natural resource damages resulting from a release.
(e) The Secretary may bring an action in the Superior Court against any potentially responsible party to collect remedial costs incurred by the Secretary, or for a party’s refusal to comply, without sufficient cause, with an order issued under subsection (a) or (b) of this section.
(f) The Secretary may issue an order as the Secretary deems appropriate to any person who fails to provide the required information or documents under § 9106(a)(1) of this title, who fails to provide access under § 9106(a)(2) of this title, or who fails to report a release as required by the regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter.
(g) The Secretary may bring an action in Superior Court to enforce any order issued by the Secretary under subsection (f) of this section. Any person refusing to comply, without sufficient cause, with such an order shall be liable pursuant to paragraph (h)(2) of this section.
(h) In any action brought under subsection (e) of this section for a refusal to comply with an order, the person found responsible shall be liable for payment of:
(1) An amount at least equal to, but not greater than 3 times the amount of, any remedial costs incurred by the State as a result of the person’s refusal to comply; and
(2) A civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for each day the person refuses to comply. For purposes of determining a civil penalty, the period of noncompliance shall be deemed to commence on the day of the Secretary’s decision and continue until full compliance with the terms of the order is achieved.
67 Del. Laws, c. 326, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 218, §§ ?25, 26; 79 Del. Laws, c. 441, § ?1;