Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
A district court denied Native American tribes' motion for a permanent injunction in an ongoing dispute concerning the Dakota Access pipeline. The tribes argued they were entitled to injunctive relief because the pipeline's continued operation was likely to cause them immediate, irreparable harm via...
Guam v. United States
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a settlement of environmental liabilities must resolve a CERCLA-specific liability to give rise to a contribution action under §113(f)(3)(B), in a lawsuit concerning a landfill in Guam formerly owned by the U.S. Navy. After entering into a consent decree...
Kentucky Waterways Alliance v. Kentucky Utilities Co.
A district court granted summary judgment for a utility company in a lawsuit concerning groundwater discharges from coal ash ponds at its power plant in Kentucky. Environmental groups argued that the discharges threatened immediate and substantial environmental harm to a nearby lake and streams, in ...
Voyageur Outward Bound School v. United States
A district court denied environmental groups' motion to reconsider its prior decision in a lawsuit concerning DOI's renewal of mining leases for a proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. The groups argued new evidence retrieved through third-party FOIA requests—communications from 2...
Conservation Congress v. United States Forest Service
A district court granted summary judgment for the Forest Service and FWS in an ongoing dispute over a tree-thinning project in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Conservation groups argued the Forest Service violated NEPA by failing to take a hard look at the project's effects and failing to prepare a ...
Sierra Club v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
The First Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to authorize construction of a segment of an electric transmission line project in Maine. Environmental groups argued the Corps' EA and FONSI violated NEPA because...