The Ninth Circuit held that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), but not NEPA, when it authorized Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to kill up to 85 California sea lions annually at the Bonneville Dam in order to protect salmon in the Columbia Ri...

A district court issued a preliminary injunction ordering genetically modified sugar beet seedlings—called stecklings—that were planted by four seed companies pursuant to permits issued by the USDA to be removed from the ground. Plaintiffs have made a strong showing that they and the environment...

A Wisconsin appellate court held that an insurer has no duty to indemnify a manufacturing company for costs it incurred cleaning up private landowners' property that was part of a larger environmental remediation effort required by the government. The parties previously stipulated that the insurer w...

A district court held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a leather tanning company in underlying lawsuits brought by farmers who used sludge from the company's tanning activities as fertilizer. The sludge, which the company applied on the farms free of charge to avoid landfilling fee...

The Eighth Circuit upheld the dismissal of individuals' claims that a county violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Minnesota Human Rights Act in failing to provide American Sign Language interpreters for all of the services provided to the public in evacuating...

A Michigan appellate court voided a 10-year-old commercial lease between the landlord and tenant of a gas station because the landlord failed to disclose that the property is, under Michigan law, a "facility" from which hazardous substances were released or disposed. The court reasoned that because ...

A district court denied an energy company's motion to dismiss CERCLA claims filed against it for reimbursement costs incurred by the former owner of a contaminated site, but granted its motion to dismiss the owner's contribution claims under CERCLA §113. The former site owner entered into an admini...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court order denying an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. Forest Service from conducting post-wildfire logging in the Plumas National Forest. The group argued that the Forest Service violated the NFMA because it failed to ensure the viabi...

A California appellate court held that a county's approval of a development project violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The project included a mix of residential, commercial, and light industrial uses plus areas for open space and recreation as well as other public uses. T...

The Federal Claims court denied the United States' motion to dismiss a company's action to recover over $2 million in litigation expenses allegedly owed to it under the indemnification provisions of various contracts the company performed for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The underlying la...