A judge dissents from the Ninth Circuit's decision not to rehear a case addressing the Oil Pollution Act's (OPA's) preemptive effect on Washington State's oil spill prevention regulations. The initial Ninth Circuit opinion held that the OPA did not preempt the majority of the state's oil spill regul...

The court holds that a newspaper cannot intervene in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) litigation to vacate a consent order mandating that settlement negotiations between CERCLA parties remain confidential. The court first holds that the presumption of pu...

The court holds that a property owner cannot maintain an action for forcible ejectment against a company that was ordered to acquire the property owner's land as part of a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act remedial plan. The company, which obtained all of the land...

The court holds that a state environmental agency did not have a duty to ascertain the accuracy of the location of wetlands on developers' property. The court first holds that the duty to depict accurately the location of wetlands was properly the duty of the developers and their representatives. It...

The court holds that a grandparent corporation is derivatively liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for its subsidiary's actions in arranging for the disposal of toxic waste at a solvent reclamation site in Granville, Ohio. Several potential...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) listing of the Del Amo site in Los Angeles, California, on the national priorities list (NPL) was invalid. The court first holds that the proposal for listing the site on the NPL failed to comply with the Omnibus Consolidated Re...

The court holds that it has subject matter jurisdiction over property owners' Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) claim against private companies for response costs relating to the contamination of their water supply, but the court does not have jurisdictio...

The court affirms a district court grant of summary judgment in favor of a manufacturer alleged to have contributed to a Michigan river's polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contamination. An association of potentially responsible parties claimed that PCBs in the manufacturer's drainage ditch leaked int...

The court holds that individual condominium owners may not assert the innocent landowner defense in their Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) action against the property's former owners. The individual owners initially purchased the property as a partnershi...

The court holds that the passage of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which requires single-hulled oil tankers to be retrofitted with double hulls or be phased out of service, did not effect a taking of shipping companies' oil tankers. The court first holds that when the companies built or acquired the v...