Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Alex Energy, Inc.
A district court held that a mining company allowed excessive amounts of selenium to be discharged from one of its surface coal mine operations in violation of the CWA and SMCRA. The company's state permit does not explicitly impose selenium limitations, but it does incorporate by reference state re...
Belle Co. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
The Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' jurisdictional determination (JD) that a proposed landfill site contains wetlands subject to regulation under the CWA. The lower court ruled that the JD is not a “final agency action” an...
Alt v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying an environmental group's motion to intervene in a poultry farmer's lawsuit against EPA. In that case, the farmer seeks a declaratory judgment that farmyard stormwater runoff is statutorily exempt from regulation as an agricultural stormwater...
Residents for Sane Trash Solutions, Inc. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
A district court upheld a CWA §404 permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of a large marine transfer station near the upper east side of New York City. A group of residents filed suit challenging the permit, claiming that the Corps' issuance of the permit was arbitra...
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay v. Hydro Kennebec, LLC
The First Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court decision dismissing environmental groups' CWA claims against the operators of four hydroelectric dams along the Kennebec River. The groups alleged that the operators are in violation of their water quality certifications, and thus the CWA, because...