A district court dismissed property owners' lawsuit against a mining company for unlawfully diverting excess wastewater into underground mine voids located beneath their land. Although the owners filed suit after the statute-of-limitations period expired, the owners argued that CERCLA's discovery ru...

The Sixth Circuit held that two administrative orders on consent (AOCs) that a power company entered into with EPA in connection with two coal gasification plants owned and operated by its predecessor in interest nearly 70 years ago do not constitute "administrative settlements" under CERCLA. Under ...

A district court granted a motion to reconsider its prior decision that a PRP established the divisibility defense and, therefore, should not be jointly and severally liable for cleanup costs at the Lower Fox River Superfund site in Wisconsin, and held that the PRP had not, in fact, established the ...

A New York appellate court held that residents may go forward with their personal injury and property damage claims against a city and various companies for failing to properly remediate toxic contamination at the Love Canal Superfund site and for allowing toxins to be released during a 2011 sewer p...

A district court granted in part and denied in part New York's motions to dismiss a company's counterclaims against it in the state's underlying CERCLA action for response costs. The state claimed that the Eleventh Amendment barred the company's counterclaims because the state has neither consented ...

A district court dismissed an environmental group's EPCRA lawsuit against BP for failing to report the release of hazardous substances following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, holding no such duty existed. EPCRA derives its reporting requirements from CERCLA, which excludes petroleum, including "c...

The Seventh Circuit held that a utility may not seek contribution against a corporation for remediation costs the utility incurred at a former coke plant that was operated by the corporation's predecessor more than 90 years ago. In 1920, the utility and the corporation's predecessor entered into a c...

The Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court decision certifying as a class a group of homeowners alleging nuisance claims against an oil company that owns a nearby contaminated site. A pipeline leak was discovered under the site in the 1960s, and while the leak was repaired, the contamination was neve...

The D.C. Circuit denied several petitions for review challenging aspects of an EPA rule that provides procedures for classifying non-hazardous secondary materials as RCRA "solid waste" for the purpose of CAA emission standards for incinerators and other combustion units. The rule classifies secondar...

The D.C. Circuit held that energy companies lack standing to challenge EPA's determination that carbon dioxide (CO2) streams injected into Class VI wells for the purpose of geologic sequestration constitute "solid waste" subject to RCRA. Class VI wells are designated to receive CO2 streams generated...