Texas Court of Appeals, Eleventh District, Affirms Dismissal of Claims Against the City of Midland in a Cost Recovery Action Under the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act

November 16, 2022  |  By Kirk M. Tracy

In an action concerning groundwater contaminated by trichloroethylene (“TCE”) and perchloroethylene (“PCE”), allegedly conveyed and released by a municipal sewer system, the Court of Appeals of Texas, Eleventh District, recently ruled on an interlocutory appeal from the grant of a plea to the jurisdiction in favor of the City of Midland, affirming a trial court’s ruling that the City had not waived its governmental immunity under the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act (“SWDA”). The Court of Appeal found that the pleadings and the preliminary evidence presented demonstrated the City had not committed a statutory violation and therefore did not waive its immunity. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s order, finding that the statutory definition of “solid waste facility” and “solid waste” were fatal to the Appellant’s claims because the allegations and only demonstrable facts concerned the City’s collection and treatment of domestic sewage, which are excluded from the definition of those terms.

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