The U.S. Supreme Court held that the United States may pursue claims against New Mexico for violating the Rio Grande Compact, which Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas entered into in the 1930s to resolve disputes over water rights. Texas filed suit alleging that New Mexico was allowing its residents to...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed a mining company's lawsuit challenging EPA's decision to place the entire Bonita Peak Mining District, located in Colorado's Mineral Belt, on the NPL. The mining company owns a mine located in the district, but its mine was not one of the sites scored under the hazard rank...

The U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned judgment and decree, ordered Wyoming to pay Montana $20,340 in damages, plus $67,270.87 in costs, for reducing the amount of water available in the Tongue River in violation of the Yellowstone River Compact. The Compact protects pre-1950 appropriative rights to...

A district court held that residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago cannot intervene in a CERCLA settlement agreement after the agreement was approved. In 2016, residents of the housing complex were told to evacuate the complex because of severe contamination from the USS Lead S...

A district court dismissed CERCLA claims against a construction company because there was no evidence that its actions contributed to soil contamination near the site. A contractor purchased topsoil from a company that is adjacent to a road where the construction company installed a water main three...

A district court held that a government contractor may be liable under CERCLA in connection with the Gold King mine spill in Colorado. In 2016, the contractor caused a breach that released more than 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage and 880,000 pounds of heavy metals into the Animas River wate...