A district court held that the city of Flint, Michigan, must choose a long-term water source and gave the city a week in which to do so. After the events of the Flint water crisis, EPA notified the city that it would need to make a decision about a long-term source of drinking water, probably before...

A district court held that a township's Home Rule Charter prohibiting deposition of any waste from oil and gas extraction within the township and invalidating any state permit to the contrary was preempted by the SDWA. In 2014, EPA granted an oil company a permit for an underground injection control...

The Sixth Circuit held that residents of Flint, Michigan, may pursue class claims against state actors in state court. In January 2016, several plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit in state court stemming from the Flint water crisis. In April 2016, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality...

A district court held that the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) did not violate NEPA when it decided to proceed with a water supply project. In 2002, the Province of Manitoba sued under NEPA to prevent the Bureau from proceeding with the Northwest Area Water Supply Project (NAWS), arguing that an Apri...

A district court allowed suits against two manufacturing companies to go forward for groundwater contamination. Residents of Hoosick Falls, New York, brought suit against the manufacturers after they discovered perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in their water supply. The residents, in 16 consolidated ca...

A California appellate court held that the Water District of Orange County may pursue state Superfund claims for groundwater contamination. In 1998, the District discovered two VOCs in groundwater drawn from the South Basin area. In 2001, perchlorate was discovered in a well, leading the District to...