The District of Columbia's highest court upheld the dismissal of a property owner's lawsuit against the D.C. sewer and water authority for pinhole leaks in his apartment buildings' pipes. The trial record provides ample support for the court's determination that the authority's actions or inactions ...

The Seventh Circuit upheld a lower court decision that a campground operated as a "public water system" under the SDWA. The court found that the campground had failed to conduct the requisite water sampling, monitoring and reporting to consumers and awarded a $29,754 civil penalty to the government....

A district court held that a settlement agreement bars a mining corporation from seeking contribution from a railroad company under CERCLA for environmental liability related to the Omaha Lead Superfund site in Omaha, Nebraska. Both parties owned the site at different times between 1871 and 1997. It...

The Fourth Circuit held that the discovery rule set forth in CERCLA §309 preempts North Carolina's 10-year limitation on the accrual of real property claims. The case arose after landowners filed a nuisance action against a corporation for allegedly contaminating their well water with concentrated ...

The Second Circuit affirmed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of a chemical manufacturing company sued by several individuals seeking to recover from injuries allegedly caused by their exposure to soil and drinking water polluted by hazardous wastes produced at a pesticide plant in ...

A California appellate court upheld a county ordinance banning single-use plastic bags and imposing a fee on single-use paper bags against claims that the ordinance was enacted in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The county determined that the ordinance was categorically...

The Ninth Circuit upheld rules DOI and USDA issued in 1999 that implement part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) concerning subsistence fishing and hunting rights. In Alaska v. Babbitt, 72 F.3d 698 (9th Cir. 1995) (Katie John I), the court held that because Congress inc...

A Colorado appellate court held that under state law, a trial court may not order plaintiffs in a toxic tort case to present prima facie evidence supporting their claims after initial disclosures, but before full discovery begins, or risk having their case dismissed. The case arose after homeowners ...