A California appellate court reversed and remanded a lower court decision invalidating a settlement agreement between the state and three water and irrigation agencies concerning the intra-state right to water from the Colorado River. In addition to allocating water rights within the state, the sett...

A district court held that the state of Washington is not liable as an arranger under CERCLA for hazardous waste contamination stemming from mining operations on state lands. The state entered into mining contracts with a Canadian mining company that allowed the company to excavate and remove metal-...

The D.C. Circuit held that a home builders' association lacked standing to challenge EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' determination that two reaches of the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona constitute "traditional navigable waters" (TNW) under the CWA. Although the association has spen...

A district court held that an oil company is liable for property damages caused by its predecessor-in-interest who conducted oil and gas exploration and production activities on the site under three subleases. Article 128 of the Louisiana Mineral Code provides that a sublessee acquires the rights an...

A district court denied an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the DOE from providing funding assistance for the construction and operation of a coal-fired power plant in Mississippi. Before granting the funding, the DOE issued an EIS evaluating the funding's environmental effects, ...

A district court held that an insurance company should have provided coverage to a demolition company for damages stemming from its disposal of contaminated waste at a recycling drop-off center. The insurance policy excludes coverage for damages arising from the final disposal of any material at a s...

A district court dismissed property owners' CERCLA, tort, and state-law claims against a power company for alleged PCB contamination. A former employee of the company lived at the property before it was sold to the current owners. While working for the company, the employee removed PCB-containing ca...

A district court held that an oil company may not seek insurance coverage for damages it incurred following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under the oil rig owner's insurance policies. The underlying insurance policies refer to the drilling contract between the rig owner and the oil company to dete...

The Court of Federal Claims held that the U.S. government is liable for costs an oil company incurred cleaning up contamination stemming from the production of aviation gasoline at its Baytown, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refineries during World War II. In the early 1940s, the company's prede...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a natural gas company's petition challenging an air district rule requiring the company to monitor, record, and report changes in the quality of natural gas and air pollutant levels. The district acted reasonably in finding that ga...