The court holds that a mine adit and mine drainage pits are point sources under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), and that acid mine drainage flowing into navigable waters is a pollutant for which a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit is required. The court ...
The court holds that discharging "produced water," a byproduct of oil and gas extraction, without a permit violates the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). The court first holds that the plaintiff environmental group has standing to bring this FWPCA citizen suit against the owner and operat...
The court holds that New York's plan to adopt the California low emission vehicle (LEV) program without adopting California regulations mandating the sale of low-sulfur fuels does not violate Clean Air Act (CAA) §177's "third-vehicle" prohibition. Section 177 allows states to piggyback on Californi...
The court holds that the private operator of a navy vessel is not entitled to reimbursement from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (the Fund) of its costs of remediating 12 barrels of bunker fuel that spilled into the Houston ship channel while being pumped into the vessel. The Fund denied the oper...
The court holds that an action by the current owner of a contaminated site to recover cleanup costs from the site's former owner and operator is a contribution action under §113 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which is barred by the applicable ...
The court holds that Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §113(g)(2)(B)'s six-year statute of limitations bars California's action to recover costs it incurred at a contaminated lumber mill in Trinity, California. Under §113(g)(2), the limitations period i...
The court holds that cattle grazers that willfully and illegally grazed their livestock in the Humboldt National Forest in Nevada have not acquired vested grazing rights through the common-law common of pasturage doctrine, have trespassed, and do not properly assert the common-law necessity defense ...
The court rules on plaintiff environmental groups' and defendant city's cross-motions for summary judgment on numerous alleged violations of two national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permits at the city's wastewater treatment plants in Kailua and Kaneohe, Hawaii. Plaintiffs alleged...
The court holds that the seller of a lead smelting facility must indemnify the facility's purchaser for the purchaser's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) liability at a site to which the purchaser sent spent batteries to be broken up before smelting them ...
The court holds that a plaintiff property owner in a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) §7002(b)(2)(A) citizen suit against the owner of an adjacent service station for damages from petroleum contamination failed to meet §7002(b)(2)(A)'s 90-day notice of endangerment requirement. The co...