In re Tennessee Valley Authority Ash Spill Litigation
A district court held that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is liable for damages to property owners and residents following a containment dike failure at its Kingston Fossil plant that spilled more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge over approximately 300 acres. The court determined ...
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
A district court upheld the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue a CWA §404 permit to a mining company for the construction of a valley fill and sediment pond in conjunction with the Reylas Surface Mine in West Virginia. The Corps' adoption of a compensatory mitigation plan that will rep...
'Iao Ground Water Management Area High-Level Source Water Use Permit Applications
The Supreme Court of Hawaii vacated and remanded the interim instream flow standards set by Hawaii's Commission on Water Resource Management for the Waihe'e River and the Waiehu, 'Iao, and Waikapu streams, collectively referred to as Na Wai 'Eha, or "the four great waters of Maui." In considering th...
Texas v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Fifth Circuit vacated EPA's disapproval of Texas's flexible permit program under the CAA. Texas submitted the program to EPA as a revision to its SIP and as a new feature of the state's minor new source review (NSR) regime. Under the program, modifications to facilities could be made without add...
United States v. NCR Corp.
The Seventh Circuit upheld a lower court's preliminary injunction compelling a PRP to complete the remediation work concerning PCB contamination at the Fox River in Wisconsin that was scheduled for this year. The PRP has performed a significant amount of cleanup at the site. But in 2011 it decided t...
Wildearth Guardians v. Public Service Co. of Colorado
The Tenth Circuit dismissed as moot an environmental group's CAA citizen suit against an energy company for building a new coal-fired power plant in Pueblo, Colorado, without a valid construction permit. Although the project initially complied with all applicable federal and state laws when construc...
Native Village of Kivalina IRA Council v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Ninth Circuit upheld an EPA Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) order denying a native village's petition for review of an NPDES permit authorizing the discharge of wastewater from an Alaskan lead and zinc mine. The village failed to demonstrate why EPA's responses to comments were clearly erroneo...
National Mining Association v. Jackson
A district court held that EPA overstepped its statutory authority under the CWA and SMCRA when it issued guidance on Appalachian surface coal mining permits. EPA argued that the guidance was not final agency action and, thus, not subject to judicial review. But the court disagreed, holding that the...
Wildearth Guardians v. Salazar
A district court dismissed environmental groups' lawsuits challenging BLM's decision to authorize the leasing of certain public lands in northeastern Wyoming for coal mining operations. The groups, who claim that BLM failed to prepare an adequate EIS before authorizing the leasing of the tracts at i...