"A U.S. appeals court rejected on Tuesday a legal challenge by General Electric Co to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) orders that direct companies to clean up hazardous waste.

The court rejected the company's argument that the law and the way EPA administers it violated constitutional due process rights because the agency issued the orders without a hearing before a neutral decision maker.

The ruling was a setback to GE's long-running effort to overturn a provision of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, known as the Superfund law that seeks to ensure that polluters pay for the environmental hazards they created.

At issue were EPA's unilateral administrative orders that direct companies and others to clean up hazardous waste for which they are responsible if the sites pose an imminent and substantial threat to public safety."

James Vicini reports for Reuters June 30, 2010. [2]