ABSTRACT:This article discusses the implications of accepting various standards of scientific evidence in disputes arising over the dumping of potentially hazardous materials into public waterways and drinking water supplies. Standards based on the types of risks and levels of benefits suffered and received by adjacent populations are evaluated within the context of the several pieces of federal legislation which relate to water quality. A case study of Reserve Mining Corporation's dumping of taconite wastes into Lake Superior is presented to illustrate the ramifications of decisions based on differing perspectives of the problem and its impacts by the courts, the affected public, RMC, and the regulatory agencies involved.
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