United States v. Swinerton Builders, No. 3:24-cv-00274 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 17, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CWA defendant that allegedly violated the Act during construction of solar energy facilities in Alabama, Idaho, and Illinois, must implement significant mitigation actions and pay a $2,300,000 civil penalty.
United States v. Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, No. 3:24-cv-08006 (D. Ariz. Jan. 9, 2024). Under a proposed partial consent decree, a settling CWA defendant that allegedly violated the limits and conditions established in its NPDES permits at three wastewater treatment facilities must improve the performance of its exiting treatment plants in the short term, construct new treatment plants over the longer term, improve its operation and maintenance of the facilities, and study its collection systems to identify defects and plan for their repair.
EPA proposed to revise the technology-based effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the meat and poultry products point source category.
A district court dismissed a RCRA citizen suit over a closure plan for a coal-fired power plant in Alabama. An environmental group challenged the plan, arguing it was unlawful to permanently store over 21 million tons of coal ash and toxic pollutants in the existing unlined impoundment, situated in ...
The Eighth Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to Iowa's "ag gag" law that criminalizes undercover investigations at agricultural production facilities. Initially, the law prohibited the facilities from being accessed under false pretenses as well as prohibited false statements o...
EPA entered into a proposed settlement agreement under RCRA and CERCLA with St. Croix Petrochemical Corporation (SCPC), under which SCPC would transfer its remaining assets of approximately $1.7 million to help fund remediation of contamination caused by SCPC’s former Hovensa refinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
United States v. Ohio Refining Co., No. 3:24-cv-00039 (N.D. Ohio Jan. 8, 2024). Under five proposed consent decrees, settling CERCLA, CWA, and OPA defendants that released hazardous substances and oil at the Duck & Otter Creeks NRDA Site near Toledo, Ohio, must collectively pay $7,225,909 in natural resource damages (NRD) and $903,239 as reimbursement for NRD assessment costs incurred by DOI.
EPA Region 10 reissued the NPDES general permit for federal aquaculture facilities and aquaculture facilities located in Indian country in Washington.
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court finding of a CWA violation in a citizen suit brought against the operator of a gold mine in Colorado. Plaintiffs argued the operator violated the CWA because seepage from the mine's settling ponds flowed into the groundwater and then migrated to the Middle...
The Fifth Circuit vacated a district court ruling in a decades-long dispute over whether a property in Louisiana contains federally regulated wetlands. The property owner sued the Army Corps of Engineers, arguing its determination that the property contained federal regulated wetlands was arbitrary ...