A district court dismissed CERCLA claims against a construction company because there was no evidence that its actions contributed to soil contamination near the site. A contractor purchased topsoil from a company that is adjacent to a road where the construction company installed a water main three...

A district court held that a government contractor may be liable under CERCLA in connection with the Gold King mine spill in Colorado. In 2016, the contractor caused a breach that released more than 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage and 880,000 pounds of heavy metals into the Animas River wate...

The New Jersey Superior Court upheld an oil company's $225 million Spill Act settlement in connection with contamination at two oil refineries in Bayonne and Linden, New Jersey. The natural resources damages were estimated at $8.9 billion. In a settlement agreement, the New Jersey Department of Envi...

A district court held that a California city does not have to pay a settlement to a dry cleaner for chemical contamination near his property per a condition of their settlement agreement. After discovering a perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination plume in downtown Visalia, California, the California ...

The Court of Federal Claims held that a land owner is entitled to compensation for wells and an access road installed to monitor contamination on a property adjacent to Fort Detrick. A Maryland landowner was faced with a demand under CERCLA from EPA for access to his property to install wells for th...

The Delaware Supreme Court held that an energy company's shareholders cannot proceed with their suit against the company's directors and officers over the costs of addressing a coal ash spill into North Carolina's Dan River. In 2014, a storm water pipe ruptured beneath a coal ash containment pond, r...

A district court ruled that the District of Columbia's flushable wipe law won't take effect as scheduled. The law, which was to take effect January 1, 2018, stated that wipes labeled "flushable" must readily break up and degrade in sewers. A flushable wipes manufacturer sought to enjoin the implemen...

The Montana Supreme Court held that owners of private land within a Superfund site can proceed with a compensation suit against an oil company to restore their properties beyond the remedies approved by EPA for the Superfund site as a whole. An oil company entered into a consent decree with EPA to r...

A district court held that an insurance company cannot back out of an insurance policy because a policyholder entered into a voluntary environmental cleanup agreement. The policyholder agreed to sell its land and allowed the buyer to do an environmental assessment. When contamination was discovered,...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court's judgment that directed a state water resources agency to file a report of waste discharges in violation of the state water quality law. An environmental organization alleged that the agency failed to institute measures to mitigate the flow of con...