The court affirms a district court decision that under Pennsylvania law a manufacturer is entitled to indemnification from its excess liability insurers for property damage resulting from environmental contamination at its manufacturing and disposal sites. The court first holds that the district cou...

The court holds that Washington oil spill prevention laws are not preempted by federal statute, do not violate the Commerce Clause or Foreign Affairs Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and are not improper extraterritorial restrictions. The court first holds that the language, structure, and legislati...

The court rescinds a contract under which a metal refining company sold a contaminated site in Queens, New York, to the U.S. Postal Service. Applying New York law, the court first holds that breach of contract can be grounds for rescission. The company breached its contract with the Postal Service b...

The court denies a private-property owner injunctive relief on its claim that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and EPA employees violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when an EPA emergency response team entered onto the property without a warrant and removed water and ...

The court holds that property owners' negligence, nuisance, and trespass claims against a battery crushing and lead processing plant in their neighborhood are time barred. The court first holds that their negligence claim is barred by Pennsylvania's statute of limitations, because their praecipe for...

The Court holds that a landowner's takings claim against a regional planning agency is ripe for adjudication. The agency determined that the landowner may not develop her property but is entitled to transferable development rights (TDRs). The Court first notes that its discussion is confined to whet...

The court holds that the owner of a salt mine is not liable to the owners of the surface estate for damage that the mine suffered during a collapse and innundation, but may be liable for damages caused by subsidence of the surface estate. The court previously held that the surface owners had a rever...

The court holds that federal and state transportation agencies did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when they failed to perform a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) after modifying the original design of a proposed freeway interchange. The court first holds that condu...

The court holds that a town may recover under the New Jersey Sanitary Landfill Facility Closure and Contingency Fund Act costs it incurred cleaning up contamination from a closed landfill on property that it bought before passage of the Act. The court holds that the town is not an "owner" of the lan...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it failed to consider, in an environmental impact statement (EIS), reasonable alternatives to creating a single source of water to satisfy the needs of both a municipality and a contiguou...