Tronox, Inc. v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
A district court held that a 2014 settlement agreement between a spinoff company, the U.S. government, an energy company, and its parent bars over 4,300 individuals from bringing Pennsylvania tort claims arising from the operation of a wood treatment plant formerly owned and operated by the spinoff'...
Ouachita Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
A district court held that environmental groups lacked standing to challenge EPA's decision not to object to a draft water discharge permit that Arkansas' environmental agency issued to a pulp and paper company under the state's CWA NPDES permit program. The groups sought an order declaring that the...
Warren v. Matthey, Inc.
A district court dismissed homeowners' CERCLA, RCRA, and state-law claims against the former owners and operators of a manufacturing plant for alleged well-water contamination. The court dismissed the CERCLA claims because the homeowners failed to allege that they incurred any recoverable response c...
Black Warrior Riverkeeper v. Alabama Department of Transportation
A district court, in a 126-page opinion, dismissed environmental groups' NEPA lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Transportation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal Highway Administration in connection with a proposed six-lane, 50-mile highway project north of Birmingham, Alabam...
Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Forest Service
The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that environmental groups have standing to bring a RCRA citizen suit against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to regulate the disposal of spent lead ammunition in the Kaibab National Forest. The groups allege that the Forest Service's failure to ...
United States v. Tonawanda Coke Corp.
The Second Circuit, in a summary order, upheld a coke company's convictions for RCRA violations at its facility near Buffalo, New York. The company claimed the RCRA convictions should be reversed because it lacked fair notice that its conduct was criminal. But it failed to raise this argument below....
Askins v. Ohio Department of Agriculture
The Sixth Circuit dismissed individuals' CWA citizen suit against the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) for issuing NPDES permits for animal feeding operations without first obtaining approval from EPA. States must notify EPA if they intend to transfer authority over part of the EPA-approved stat...