The court holds that a pharmaceutical company that sold unused chemicals to a vitamin manufacturing facility is not a party liable for contribution under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first finds that the definition of "disposal" contai...
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to implement the direct federal underground injection control (UIC) program on certain New Mexico lands based on their Native American or disputed jurisdictional status did not violate either the Safe Drinking Water Act...
The court holds that when a party is liable for pollution response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), it must share them regardless of whether it is the sole cause of the costs. An airplane manufacturer brought a contribution action agains...
The court reverses a district court decision holding a lessee that subleased property liable as an owner under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first holds that owner liability should not automatically apply to lessees/sublessors. First, s...
The court reverses a district court decision dismissing on summary judgment a property owner's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) claim against prior owners of the property, as well as certain governmental entities, to recover the cost of cleaning up conta...
The Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review of a FERC order approving the construction of new facilities to allow for the flow of natural gas from Mexico northbound into southern California. FERC's EIS contained a reasonably thorough discussion of the environmental impact of its actions based on ...
The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) denial under the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Land Withdrawal Act of an application to drill on an oil and gas lease did not constitute a permanent taking of the leaseholder's rights. BLM denied the application until the U.S. Environ...
The court upholds the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) decision to deny lessors' request to cancel their Native American oil and gas lease because of the lessee's royalty underpayment violations. The court first holds that the lessors' constitutional argument is meritless. Instead of arguin...
The court reverses and remands a district court's allocation of insurance coverage costs between an insured and its excess insurers for soil, groundwater, and wetlands contamination at the insured's tank truck terminal. The court first holds that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction ov...
The court holds that under New York law, insurers are not obligated to defend and indernnify a clothing manufacturer from private and government damage claims stemming from contamination at the manufacturer's New York and Virgin Islands facilities. The manufacturer acquired the two facilities from s...