Search Results
Use the filters on the left-hand side of this screen to refine the results further by topic or document type.

Spokane, City of v. Monsanto Co.

A district court held that an agriculture company cannot pursue Superfund cost recovery against Spokane, Washington, over polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in the Spokane River. The company produced PCBs from 1935 to 1970 that the city of Spokane claimed contributed to the impairment of t...

American Petroleum Institute v. EPA

The D.C. Circuit held that EPA's verified recycler exclusion under RCRA was unreasonable. In 2015, EPA issued a final rule rule governing when certain hazardous materials qualify as “discarded,” subjecting them to the Agency's authority. The new rule required generators of waste to meet special ...

Employers Ins. of Wausau v. McGraw Edison Co.

The Sixth Circuit held that a battery company did not waive insurance coverage in connection with a battery storage facility in New Jersey because of a settlement with its insurance company decades prior. The battery company acquired another company and discovered that several of its factories may h...

Hampton Rds. Sanitation Dist. v. Va. Dep't Of Envtl. Quality

A Virginia appeals court held that ash from incineration of biosolids at a wastewater treatment plant cannot be used to raise the ground level of a flood-prone agricultural field. In 2008, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) began using the ash to raise the ground level of flood-prone field...

Dixon Lumber Co. v. Austinville Limestone Co.

A district court held that a mining company will not face CERCLA liability as a successor to another company because there was no overlap in ownership. The mining company and a lumber company purchased adjacent lots from an industrial company whose subsidiary operated a zinc and lead mine on what is...

Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Roy's Plumbing, Inc.

The Second Circuit, in a summary order, affirmed a lower court decision that an insurance company has no duty to defend a plumbing company in an underlying state suit related to chemical contamination at Love Canal near Niagara Falls, New York. The allegations in the state action fall within the ins...

United States v. Federal Resources Corp.

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that the United States is not liable under CERCLA for hazardous waste contamination at a former mine site in Idaho. A district court held the owners of the site liable for EPA's and the U.S. Forest Service's cleanup costs at the site, and the owners...

AES P.R., LP v. Trujillo-Panisse

The First Circuit struck down two Puerto Rican municipalities' ban of the disposal of coal ash at landfills within their borders. In 2015, Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approved a request from two landfills to receive coal ash from a coal-fired energy plant. Two years prior, the mu...

Heartland Catfish Co. v. Navigators Specialty Ins. Co.

A district court held that an insurer is not liable for damages in connection with environmental cleanup costs stemming from a biofuel firm's recycling of catfish and other oils. The biofuel firm entered into a fat, oil, and grease recycling agreement (FOG) with a catfish company and rented property...

Von Duprin LLC. v. Moran Elec. Serv. Inc.

A district court found that an Indiana Superfund law allows for contribution claims even though the law does not directly reference them. In 2013, a hardware manufacturing company was found liable by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for releases of hazardous substances on an...