Petro Star Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm'n
The D.C. Circuit granted a refining company's petition challenging FERC's methodology for determining payments to oil companies that use the Trans Alaska Pipeline System to transport oil in a commingled stream. Absent monetary adjustments to compensate for the difference in quality between inputs an...
Louisiana State v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must bear all the costs of deauthorizing the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO), instead holding that the Corps' cost-sharing formula with the state of Louisiana was reasonable. The Corps has completed buildin...
Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.
The Ninth Circuit held that a mining company that operates a smelter in Canada should not be held liable as an arranger under CERCLA for the release and threatened release of hazardous substances in the Upper Columbia River. The company could not be said to have "arranged" for the "disposal" of haza...
Elazar v. Macrietta Cleaners, Inc.
A New Jersey appellate court affirmed a lower court decision that dismissed as untimely shop owners' lawsuit against a town for injuries they allegedly suffered due to chemical vapors emanating from leaking USTs. Although the USTs belonged to the dry cleaner next door to the plaintiffs' shop, the ta...