A district court dismissed, with leave to amend, a dry cleaning business owner's CERCLA claims against a water company for soil and groundwater contamination. The owner alleged that the water company's operation of a nearby well led to the release of perchloroethylene (PCE). But the complaint does n...
The Eleventh Circuit upheld the dismissal of environmental groups' citizen suit against a coal mine for new source performance standard (NSPS) violations under the CWA. A citizen suit that alleges that a discharger violated its permit is subject to the general rule of notice and a 60-day waiting per...
The D.C. Circuit held that so long as DOE has no viable alternative to Yucca Mountain as a depository for nuclear waste, it may not charge nuclear power plant operators an annual fee to cover the cost of that disposal. The court previously held that DOE violated its statutory obligation under the Nu...
A district court dismissed residents' lawsuit against a city for allowing a metals finishing plant to use and store acids and other dangerous chemicals. The residents' only factual allegation against the city is that it zoned the property at issue as a commercial or industrial use area and allowed t...
A district court held that it would not waive the statute of limitations in a breach of contract case filed by the heirs of a cattle rancher against an oil company for contaminating the rancher's property. The suit stems from the company's oil and gas operations in the 1960s and 1970s. The statute o...
The Sixth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, denied a wildlife preserve's motion to preliminarily enjoin a mining company from constructing and operating a nickel and copper mine in Marquette, Michigan, and to compel the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to force a federal permitting request. The mining...
The Second Circuit, in a summary order, affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a property owner's lawsuit against a nearby gas station operator for contaminating the owner's shopping plaza and against a cleanup contractor for failing to detect the contamination or warn of its potential existence...
A district court ordered EPA to submit within 60 days a schedule on when it proposes to complete its review and revision of its RCRA Subtitle D coal ash regulations. In 1980, Congress amended RCRA by adding §3001(b)(3)(A)(ii), known as the Bevill Amendment, to prohibit EPA from regulating mining an...
The Seventh Circuit held that a town may not assess stormwater management fees on Indian lands located within the town's borders. The town passed an ordinance allowing it to assess fees on all parcels of land in the town, including those owned by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, to pay for its stormw...
A district court held that the Virgin Islands may go forward with its suit to recover response costs it incurred responding to the release of hazardous substances at a former alumina facility. Under CERCLA, at least some costs must be incurred prior to the start of litigation in order for a plaintif...