A district court upheld EPA’s refusal to determine whether new water quality standards were necessary to control nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the mainstem of the Mississippi River and the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The case arose after EPA denied environmental groups' petition to make such a...

The Fourth Circuit upheld a district court's ruling that a coal company's NPDES permit did not shield it from liability under the CWA because it did not comply with the terms of the permit. In March 2013, three environmental groups filed an action against a West Virginia coal company, alleging that ...

The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that barred a mining company from pursuing a CERCLA contribution claim for the Lower Silver Creek/Richardson Flat site because of representations it made to a bankruptcy court concerning its settlement agreement with EPA. In 2009, as part of a Chapt...

A district court, on cross-motions for summary judgment, held that a utility company should not be held liable under CERCLA for the release of hazardous substances on two properties owned by an energy company. The energy company brought this action under CERCLA to recover cleanup costs it incurred i...

A district court denied as untimely a newspaper’s motion to intervene in a case involving a 27-year-old CERCLA action. The newspaper claimed it had, under state law, the right to information related to confidential settlement negotiations that took place between the U.S. government and a mining co...

A district court denied in part and granted in part motions for summary judgment in a suit involving the effects of the Leavenworth [WA] National Fish Hatchery’s operation on endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead in Icicle Creek. An environmental group alleged NMFS's biological opinion (BiOp) an...