The First Circuit affirmed a lower court's entry of a consent decree allocating certain responsibilities among a city, the state of Maine, and a telecommunications company for the cleanup of a contaminated river bed in Maine under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability...
A Georgia appellate court affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a county's contribution claim against a crematory under the state's hazardous waste law. The "corrective action" referenced in the Hazardous Site Response Act does not contemplate environmental cleanup efforts undertaken independen...
An Ohio appellate court held that the sudden and accidental exceptions to pollution exclusion clauses contained in an aerospace manufacturing company's excess commercial insurance policies provide coverage for gradual releases of pollutants if the resulting damage is indivisible from the sudden and ...
The Supreme Court of Florida held that the state's environmental agency must pay a judgment entered against it for breaching a contract with a private company. Under the contract, the company agreed to finance, construct, and operate 143 vacation cabins and associated concessions in eight state park...
The Supreme Court of California invalidated a local agency's countywide property assessment intended to fund a program to acquire, improve, and maintain open space lands. The court first ruled that courts should exercise their independent judgment in reviewing whether assessments that local agencies...
A California appellate court affirmed a trial court's writ of mandate directing the state's pesticide agency to work jointly and mutually with the state health department while formulating regulations relating to the safety of persons working with or around methyl bromide. Section 12981 of the Calif...
The Supreme Court of California overturned the state forestry agency's approval of a master plan for the intensive logging of old growth redwoods and other trees on a lumber company's property in Humboldt County as well as the agency's issuance of an incidental take permit, but otherwise affirmed a ...
A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a continuing nuisance claim brought by the owners of contaminated property against the former owners for damages stemming from a prospective lender's refusal to refinance the property. Specifically, the owners sought to recover interest rate diffe...
A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision dismissing property owners' suit seeking damages against a city for inverse condemnation, nuisance, and trespass stemming from erosion caused by a faulty storm drain. The trial court concluded the city could not be held liable for erosion ...
A district court denied motions to dismiss a landowner's tort and state-law claims against the owner of a gasoline station for damages stemming from methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) contamination of its drinking water wells. The owner has suffered a cognizable injury. A reasonable jury could find ...