A district court denied oil and gas companies' motions to dismiss claims that their use and handling of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) has contaminated, or threatens to contaminate, groundwater in Puerto Rico. The companies argued that Puerto Rico's island-wide claims for relief should be dismis...

The Federal Claims Court held that the U.S. government may not engage in discovery about oil companies' insurance policies in an underlying case concerning cleanup costs stemming from the production of high-octane aviation gas (avgas) during World War II. The Federal Circuit previously held that the...

A district court held that a waste broker is liable as an arranger under CERCLA and the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act (TSWDA) in connection with the disposal of waste at the U.S. Oil Recovery Superfund site in Texas. A manufacturing company hired the broker to help facilitate the movement of its wa...

A district court dismissed property owners' lawsuit against a mining company for unlawfully diverting excess wastewater into underground mine voids located beneath their land. Although the owners filed suit after the statute-of-limitations period expired, the owners argued that CERCLA's discovery ru...

The Sixth Circuit held that two administrative orders on consent (AOCs) that a power company entered into with EPA in connection with two coal gasification plants owned and operated by its predecessor in interest nearly 70 years ago do not constitute "administrative settlements" under CERCLA. Under ...

A Washington appellate court upheld an administrative board decision invalidating the Department of Ecology's and a city's threshold determinations for two crude oil terminal development projects under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), but denied environmental groups' claim that additional ...

A district court granted a motion to reconsider its prior decision that a PRP established the divisibility defense and, therefore, should not be jointly and severally liable for cleanup costs at the Lower Fox River Superfund site in Wisconsin, and held that the PRP had not, in fact, established the ...

A New York appellate court held that residents may go forward with their personal injury and property damage claims against a city and various companies for failing to properly remediate toxic contamination at the Love Canal Superfund site and for allowing toxins to be released during a 2011 sewer p...

A North Carolina appellate court upheld the constitutionality of state legislation that withdrew a city's authority to own and operate its public water system and to instead transfer it to a sewer district. The law creates a new type of political subdivision, known as a metropolitan water and sewera...

The Supreme Court of New Hampshire upheld a $236 million jury award against an oil company for groundwater contamination. In 2003, New Hampshire sued several gasoline suppliers, refiners, and chemical manufacturers seeking damages for groundwater contamination allegedly caused by methyl tertiary but...