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Patching a Persistent Problem: PFAS and RCRA’s Citizen Suit Provision
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a toxic, environmentally persistent class of chemicals that have been used widely in consumer products. Despite growing evidence of adverse health effects associated with PFAS exposure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not yet promulgated a legally enforceable standard for any of the individual chemicals in the PFAS group. This has resulted in largely unrestricted disposal of PFAS waste and dispersal of these persistent chemicals throughout the environment.
Okanogan Highlands Alliance v. Crown Resources Corp.
A district court denied mine owners' motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging they were in violation of their NPDES permit. A conservation group and the state of Washington argued that the owners had violated the terms of their permit by discharging pollutants in excess of average monthly effluent limit...
San Francisco Baykeeper v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
A district court vacated EPA's 2019 determination that found no jurisdictional waters under the CWA at a salt production complex bordering the southwestern San Francisco Bay. The Agency argued that the CWA did not apply to the complex because it was converted to salt ponds prior to the Act's passage...
United States v. Sterling Centrecorp Inc.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling in a lawsuit concerning the U.S. government's and California's recovery of cleanup costs from a hazardous waste spill in the Sierra Nevada foothills that released toxic amounts of arsenic into local groundwater. Plaintiffs sued the company that had acq...
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency
A district court denied a motion to reconsider its 2018 ruling that gave EPA discretion as to how to establish a new TMDL for trash in the Anacostia River. An environmental group argued that little progress had been made since the 2018 ruling and that the court should require the Agency to establish...
United States v. United Park City Mines Co.
The Tenth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling ordering mining and finance companies to comply with EPA's requests for information related to cleanup of a contaminated site in Utah. The companies argued that EPA exceeded its authority under CERCLA when it issued the information requests, the requests...
Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part an environmental group's petition to review EPA's approval of the Idaho Pollution Discharge Elimination System (IPDES). Specifically, the court denied the petition with respect to the group's challenges concerning the st...
White Plains Housing Authority v. BP Products North America Inc.
A district court held that an oil company was liable for a plume of gasoline beneath a former gasoline station that was migrating toward nearby housing units in White Plains, New York. A housing authority brought claims under RCRA, arguing its property was contaminated by discharges of gasoline and ...