The Fifth Circuit held that a pollution exclusion clause contained in an oil well operator's insurance policy bars coverage for cleanup costs of an oil leak on leased land. The operator argued that the exclusion did not apply because the operator leased only mineral rights and that the surfa...

The Fifth Circuit held that a "farmout agreement," under which the owner of a federal offshore oil and gas lease transferred its rights to drill to another drilling operator, does not require the operator to bear a proportionate share of the costs of decommissioning an oil platform at the le...

The Supreme Court of Texas, on certification from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, held that Texas does not recognize a "rolling" public beachfront access easement on Galveston's West Beach. Land patents from the Republic of Texas in 1840, affirmed by legislation in the new s...

A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment on claims that the U.S. Army failed to comply with two settlement agreements requiring it to conduct and complete subsurface archaeological surveys of its munitions training grounds on the Makua Military R...

The Tenth Circuit held that the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste allows its member states to exclude low-level radioactive waste from disposal at a Utah site. A disposal facility in Utah, a member state, sought permission from the compact to import and dispose of l...

The D.C. Circuit granted a petition challenging the NRC's transfer of regulatory authority over nuclear material to the state of New Jersey. Before transferring authority to a state, the NRC must find that the state's regulatory regime is compatible with the NRC's program. To evaluate the co...

The Ninth Circuit held that EPA’s decision to transfer authority over portions of the NPDES program to the state of Alaska was not arbitrary or capricious. Petitioners argued that EPA did not adequately ensure that Alaska state law will provide the same opportunities for judicial review of permitt...

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...