We have added a new database to Rachel (our online computerized data system accessible to the public via modem). It contains 11,389 records from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Civil Enforcement Docket; basically, it is a record of every civil lawsuit EPA has brought against polluters in federal court from 1972 through 1990. (There were not 11,389 suits brought; there were 2281 but they involved 11,389 separate defendants. In some individual cases, such as a large Superfund lawsuit, a hundred or more individuals and companies might be named as defendants.)

As with all the databases in Rachel, you can search this new one by every word in every document. For example, you can type in a company name like Westinghouse and get all the Westinghouse records. Or you can type in Kingston and get all records for towns named Kingston. Or you can type in a postal code for a state like NH (for New Hampshire) and get all records for the state of New Hampshire. Type Davis and you'll get several records about individuals named Davis who have been sued by EPA.

The raw data from this new database comes from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Civil Enforcement Docket, sold on diskettes by National Technical Information Service (NTIS; 5285 Port Royal Rd., Springfield, VA 22161; phone (703) 487-4650). Order item No. PB91-591970S. $320.00.

Rachel stands for "Remote Access Chemical Hazards Electronic Library" though it was really named for Rachel Carson, a true hero of our time. To get a free account on the Rachel computer system, write us.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

Descriptor terms: epa; civil enforcement docket; computer; superfund; lawsuits; courts; databases; ntis;