A district court granted summary judgment for a utility company in a lawsuit concerning groundwater discharges from coal ash ponds at its power plant in Kentucky. Environmental groups argued that the discharges threatened immediate and substantial environmental harm to a nearby lake and streams, in ...
In an unpublished opinion, the Fourth Circuit upheld the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant Maryland a CWA §404 permit for a mass transportation project. An environmental group and state residents argued that the Corps granted the permit without considering alternatives other than the optio...
A district court dismissed a RCRA citizen suit brought against present and former owners of chemical plants for allegedly releasing radioactive slag deposited on landowners' properties in New York. The landowners sought injunctive relief under RCRA, including ordering the plant owners to evaluate ea...
The Tenth Circuit denied a company's petition to review an Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) decision denying its petition to review a 2017 permit issued by EPA to an upstream wastewater treatment plant. In its petition, the company argued the permit constituted backsliding under the CWA, particular...
The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a ruling in a CWA citizen suit brought against developers of a construction site in Worcester, Massachusetts. An environmental group argued that one developer violated the CWA by failing to obtain a general construction permit, and that both de...
A district court denied a motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit concerning irrigation of a golf course in Big Sky, Montana. Environmental groups argued a Montana water district over-irrigated the course, resulting in nitrogen and other pollutants leaching into groundwater that naturally sit...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a coal company in a lawsuit concerning the company's alleged mine pollution discharges that had been permitted under a CWA permit. Environmental groups argued the company violated SMCRA by discharging pollutants from point sources at its now-inactive ...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Army Corps of Engineers in a challenge to the Corps' issuance of a permit to construct a jetty to prevent beach erosion in North Carolina. An environmental group challenged the issuance of the permit on the ground that numerous analyses conducted ...
The Second Circuit denied a petition to review two FERC orders that determined the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) had waived its authority under §401 of the CWA to issue or deny a water quality certification for a natural gas pipeline project. NYDEC and an environme...
A state court reversed the Maryland Department of the Environment's (MDE's) decision to reissue an NPDES general permit for animal feeding operations without limitations on the discharge of gaseous ammonia. An environmental group argued the permit was deficient under both the CWA and state law becau...