Sierra Club v. Virginia Electric and Power Co.
A district court ruled that a Virginia power plant is not liable for CWA penalties associated with its release of coal ash into nearby waters. The case concerns coal ash piles that leached arsenic and other heavy metals into groundwater that contaminated the Elizabeth River and Deep Creek. An enviro...
Board of Water Works Trustees v. Sac County Board of Supervisors
A district court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment in a case involving a city utility's suit against an upstream drainage district over excess nitrate pollution in the utility's water source. In a prior decision involving these two entities, the Iowa Supreme court held that drainage di...
Blue Ridge Envtl Defense League v. Pruitt
A district court ordered EPA to complete overdue assessments of 13 sources of hazardous air pollutants. In 2016, environmental groups sued the Agency over a failure to meet CAA requirements that the standards for air pollutants be reviewed within eight years to account for technology improvements. T...
United States v. Gibson Wine Co.
A district court denied a winery's motion to strike claims by EPA under CERCLA, the CAA, and other statutes in connection with a release of ammonia that claimed the life of one worker. In 2012, the winery experienced a 284-pound release of anhydrous ammonia from its refrigeration system. A cloud of ...
Yazzie v. EPA
The Ninth Circuit rejected challenges to EPA's interpretation of the Tribal Authority Rule under the CAA in a case concerning a coal-fired power plant on Navajo land. In 2013, in response to Navajo Nation's failure to issue a Tribal Implementation Plan for the coal-fired plant, EPA proposed federal ...