The Second Circuit upheld a lower court decision dismissing a developer's CERCLA indemnity claim for remediation costs it incurred as the owner of a building contaminated by toxic dust from the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. The developer filed suit against the owners and less...

The Federal Circuit held that the U.S. government must reimburse four oil companies for CERCLA costs they incurred cleaning up contamination stemming from the production of high-octane aviation gas (avgas) during World War II. The oil companies entered into contracts with the government that promise...

The Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a CERCLA citizen suit challenging remediation work at three landfills in Indiana. The remediation work was divided into three stages. The lower court held that it lacked jurisdiction over the citizens' claims challenging the second and t...

A district court granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss a corporation's CERCLA suit against an electronics company for costs incurred cleaning up lead contamination at a New York Superfund site. The electronics company, which had operated a steel plant and foundry on the site, claimed...

The Second Circuit held that CERCLA does not allow a subcontractor hired to perform cleanup activities on a site the right to recover the value of unpaid work directly from the landowner. The landowner paid a general contractor for costs associated with the cleanup of a contaminated parcel of land. ...

A district court held that a water treatment company who purchased ferrous chloride crystals is jointly and severally liable for cleanup costs incurred after the bags in which the crystals were originally packaged leaked during their transport from Taiwan to California. The court previously ruled th...

A district court held that a multibillion dollar judgment granted by an Ecuadorian court for environmental pollution in the Amazon was procured by fraud and therefore enjoined the attorney and two of his Ecuadorian clients from seeking to enforce that judgment in the United States. Upon consideratio...

A district court held that a group of PRPs in connection with a former hazardous waste incinerator in Kentucky may go forward with their CERCLA cost recovery and contribution claims against a group of companies that allegedly generated and/or transported hazardous waste to the site. The companies ar...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed two lower court decisions ordering an oil company to produce expert witness documents for use in a foreign proceeding concerning an environmental contamination dispute in Ecuador. The court rejected the company's argument that the documents were presumptively immune from d...