The D.C. Circuit granted EPA's motion to dismiss an industry group's challenge to interim lifetime health advisories for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. The court found that the group identified alleged harm facing an indirect subsidiary of one of its members, but failed t...
The Tenth Circuit upheld a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Trump that disapproved the Stream Protection Rule, which was adopted by DOI under the Obama Administration. Nonprofit groups argued that the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which Congress used to repeal the rule, ...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's remand to state court of a lawsuit concerning dredging operations in a ship channel near Corpus Christi. The port authority sued a dredging company in state court, alleging that the company's operations resulted in physical trespass and encroachments on ...
Numerous cities, states, and counties have sued fossil fuel companies, with claims based on evidence found in the companies’ own internal documents and statements. These companies have argued their public statements are protected by the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and right to petition clauses. This Article describes the current litigation, discusses the companies’ statements disseminated through various sources, and summarizes U.S. Supreme Court precedent and caselaw on commercial speech.
A district court granted in part and denied in part a pipeline owner's motion for summary judgment in a CERCLA suit brought by the owner of land where the pipeline is located in West Virginia. The landowner alleged that the pipeline leaked and contaminated her soil and groundwater, and sought to rec...
A district court granted a federal contractor's motion for partial summary judgment in a CERCLA liability suit brought by the state of New Mexico and a Native American reservation concerning Gold King Mine's release of millions of gallons of contaminated water into nearby rivers in 2015. The contrac...
A district court held that hundreds of Louisiana residents seeking damages in a mass tort action concerning landfill emissions in Jefferson Parish established general causation. The court found the residents proved by a preponderance of the evidence that gases and odors were emitted from the landfil...
A district court granted summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to a 2019 rule requiring turtle excluder devices on skimmer trawl vessels greater than 40 feet in length in inshore waters. The final rule was published on December 20, 2019, with an effective date of April 1, 2021, but NMFS issued a ...
A district court granted bottling companies' motion to dismiss a deceptive marketing challenge to their "100% recyclable" labels. Consumers and an environmental group argued the labels were false and misleading because most plastic bottles are not recycled. The companies moved to dismiss for lack of...
Over two dozen U.S. states and municipalities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, seeking abatement orders and compensation for climate damages based on theories such as public nuisance, negligence, and failure to warn, and alleging these companies knew about the dangers of their products, intentionally concealed those dangers, created doubt about climate science, and undermined public support for climate action.