The Ninth Circuit held that EPA’s decision to transfer authority over portions of the NPDES program to the state of Alaska was not arbitrary or capricious. Petitioners argued that EPA did not adequately ensure that Alaska state law will provide the same opportunities for judicial review of permitt...

A Wisconsin appellate court held that an insurer has no duty to indemnify a manufacturing company for costs it incurred cleaning up private landowners' property that was part of a larger environmental remediation effort required by the government. The parties previously stipulated that the insurer w...

A district court held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a leather tanning company in underlying lawsuits brought by farmers who used sludge from the company's tanning activities as fertilizer. The sludge, which the company applied on the farms free of charge to avoid landfilling fee...

The Eighth Circuit upheld the dismissal of individuals' claims that a county violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Minnesota Human Rights Act in failing to provide American Sign Language interpreters for all of the services provided to the public in evacuating...

A district court denied an energy company's motion to dismiss CERCLA claims filed against it for reimbursement costs incurred by the former owner of a contaminated site, but granted its motion to dismiss the owner's contribution claims under CERCLA §113. The former site owner entered into an admini...

A district court granted in part and denied in part several motions and cross-motions for summary judgment in a cost recovery and contribution action stemming from contamination at a dry cleaning business. The trustee of the property owner's estate filed suit against the former owners and lesse...

The Seventh Circuit held that an environmental group has standing to challenge a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit allowing 18.4 acres of wetlands in a state park to be destroyed to make way for a landfill. A lower court held that the group lacked standing and therefore dismissed the case. It...

A district court denied a defendant company's motion to dismiss a distribution center's claim for injunctive relief and damages under various causes of action based on environmental contamination on property managed by the defendant. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the company is not meetin...

A district court held that a consent decree settling an electric company's CERCLA liability with EPA and granting it contribution protection against additional CERCLA liability at an industrial site does not provide the company with contribution protection from a defense company's action seeking dam...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of individuals' citizen suit claim against a Canadian mining company seeking civil penalties under CERCLA for the mining company's noncompliance with a unilateral administrative order. Because a citizen suit for penalties while remediation is ongoing is a ...