A district court held that EPA cannot regulate stormwater as a pollutant under the CWA. According to the court, the language of CWA §303(d)(1)(C) is clear. EPA may set TMDLs to regulate pollutants, and pollutants are carefully defined. Because stormwater runoff is not a pollutant under the Act, EPA...
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision holding a water district liable under the CWA for violating its municipal separate storm sewer system permit. The lower court ruled that the violations occurred when the polluted water detected at the monitoring stations flowed out of concrete-l...
A district court held that a mining company that operates a smelter in Canada is liable as an arranger under CERCLA for the release and threatened release of hazardous substances in the Upper Columbia River. The company stipulated that it discharged slag and effluent into the Columbia River from its...
A district court held that a refinery that settled in bankruptcy court its liability for response costs incurred at a Superfund site may seek contribution from a mining company. The mining company argued that the settlement agreement for which the refinery seeks contribution only resolves the refine...
A district court dismissed claims against the manufacturer of the chemical dispersant used in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Cleanup responders and coastal residents filed suit against the manufacturer, claiming they suffered a variety of exposure-related injuries...
The Tenth Circuit upheld a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge and fill permit allowing a railroad company to build a terminal on land outside Kansas City, Kansas, that contains streams and wetlands. Environmental groups argued the Corps inadequately considered alternatives to the selected site unde...
A California appellate court upheld a regional water board's approval of a NPDES permit to build a desalination facility on the coast of Carlsbad, California. An environmental group argued that the board improperly required the facility to restore wetlands in lieu of implementing site, design and te...
A Minnesota appellate court held that the state environmental agency did not err in certifying under CWA §401 EPA's proposed NPDES vessel general permit, which allows shipping vessels in Lake Superior to discharge ballast water in state waters. Nonprofit groups argued that the agency applied an inc...