A district court granted in part motions to dismiss an oil company's OPA, Pipeline Safety Act, and Maryland state-law claims against the alleged owners and operators of an underground pipeline in southeast Baltimore. The company filed suit to recover damages it incurred due to a pipeline leak. All o...

The Supreme Court of New Hampshire upheld a $236 million jury award against an oil company for groundwater contamination. In 2003, New Hampshire sued several gasoline suppliers, refiners, and chemical manufacturers seeking damages for groundwater contamination allegedly caused by methyl tertiary but...

A district court denied in part motions to dismiss as time barred Puerto Rico's lawsuit against various oil companies for methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) groundwater contamination. Under Puerto Rico law, once the defendant has established that the injury occurred more than one year prior to the f...

A district court granted in part and denied in part New York's motions to dismiss a company's counterclaims against it in the state's underlying CERCLA action for response costs. The state claimed that the Eleventh Amendment barred the company's counterclaims because the state has neither consented ...

A district court upheld Oregon's clean fuels program, which seeks to reduce lifecycle emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from transportation fuels by 10% over a 10-year period. Trade associations argued that the program was unconstitutional because it discriminates against out-of-state commerce. Bu...

The Ninth Circuit held that California's commercial fishing fees for nonresidents violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution. California's commercial fishing license fees are significantly higher for out-of-state fishers than for residents. For example, California residen...