A district court held that a waste broker is liable as an arranger under CERCLA and the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act (TSWDA) in connection with the disposal of waste at the U.S. Oil Recovery Superfund site in Texas. A manufacturing company hired the broker to help facilitate the movement of its wa...

A district court dismissed property owners' lawsuit against a mining company for unlawfully diverting excess wastewater into underground mine voids located beneath their land. Although the owners filed suit after the statute-of-limitations period expired, the owners argued that CERCLA's discovery ru...

The Sixth Circuit held that two administrative orders on consent (AOCs) that a power company entered into with EPA in connection with two coal gasification plants owned and operated by its predecessor in interest nearly 70 years ago do not constitute "administrative settlements" under CERCLA. Under ...

A district court denied in part and granted in part EPA's motion to dismiss property owners' lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of an EPA compliance order under CWA §309. EPA determined that, in the course of developing the property, the owners discharged dredge and fill materials into water...

A district court upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue a general nationwide permit—NWP 21—authorizing discharges from certain coal mining activities into navigable waters. Despite environmental groups' arguments to the contrary, the Corps' issuance of NWP 21 was neither arbi...

A district court denied motions to dismiss environmental groups' CWA citizen suit against an energy company for alleged NPDES permit violations at a retired coal-fired power plant. The groups alleged that the company unlawfully discharged pollutants through engineered seeps, non-engineered seeps, an...

A district court granted a motion to reconsider its prior decision that a PRP established the divisibility defense and, therefore, should not be jointly and severally liable for cleanup costs at the Lower Fox River Superfund site in Wisconsin, and held that the PRP had not, in fact, established the ...

A district court, on motions for summary judgment, held that a marine fueling, service, and storage facility in Seattle was liable under the CWA for various NPDES general permit violations. The company's stormwater discharges exceeded the benchmarks for zinc and copper, the company failed to monitor...

The Second Circuit remanded portions of EPA's 2013 general NPDES permit for ship ballast water, a primary cause of the spread of invasive species from one body of water to another. The general permit imposed both technology-based effluent limitations (TBELs) and water quality-based effluent limitati...

The Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay enjoining the "waters of the United States" rule pending the court's determination as to whether it has subject matter jurisdiction to review the rule. The court held that the petitioning states demonstrated a substantial possibility of success on the merit...