Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: Euopean Communities' Court of Justice

Date: 06/24/2008

Subject: The Court, called upon to define waste, affirmed that the heavy fuel oil accidentally spilled at sea following a shipwreck must be classified as waste within the meaning of the Directive 75/422/EEC. It also affimed that the cost of disposing of the waste is the responsability of the seller of hydrocarbons and charterer of the ship if he failed to take measures to prevent such an occurrence, or of the producer of the product from which the waste came if he contributed by his conduct to the risk of the pollution caused by the shipwreck.

Parties: Commune de Mesquer c/ Total France SA, Total International Ltd

Classification: Solidarity - Art. 37 Environmental protection

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