In an unpublished opinion, a district court held that a developer may go forward with its CERCLA, tort law, and fraudulent concealment claims against the former owner of contaminated property under which PCB-contaminated USTs were discovered after the developer purchased the property. The developer ...

New York's highest court held that material questions of fact prevent it from ruling on whether a narrow waterway within a remote area of the Adirondack Mountains is navigable-in-fact and therefore open to public use. At issue in the case is the "Mud Pond Waterway," a two-mile-long system of ponds a...

The Supreme Court of Colorado held that state law preempts a city's five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal within city limits. Although the Colorado Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of "home rule cities," allowing home rule cities to regulate matters of local concern,...

The Supreme Court of Colorado held that state law preempts a city's ban on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal within city limits. The Colorado Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of "home rule cities," meaning that in matters of local concern, a home-rule ordinance supersedes a conflicting ...

The Supreme Court of Texas held that the Texas Clean Air Act and the Act’s enforcement mechanisms in the Texas Water Code preempt a Houston air-quality ordinance. The Houston ordinance’s enforcement provisions are inconsistent with the statutory enforcement requirements. The ordinance allows cri...

A California appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court's summary adjudication in favor of the property owners in their dispute with a citizen's group over the use of a road, parking area, and the inland dry sand of a popular beach. There is no disagreement that the defendan...

A district court denied a manufacturing company's motion to certify for interlocutory appeal certain questions pertaining to its statute of limitations and claim preclusion defenses in an underlying case over who should bear the cost of cleaning up contamination at a steel processing site. The curre...

A district court granted Missouri's remand request to litigate in state court its lawsuit against the owner and operator of a landfill in connection with an uncontrolled, underground trash fire at the site. The state alleged various state law violations, along with claims for nuisance, cost recovery...

A Florida appellate court reversed and remanded the state siting board's decision to permit a power company to construct and operate two new nuclear generating units and to install miles of new transmission lines in and near the East Everglades. The board failed to consider local regulations, as req...

A district court held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a company in two underlying actions seeking contribution for past and future costs incurred at a PCB-contaminated site. The company had sent transformers to the site for repair, during which PCBs were released. The company was ...