The Fifth Circuit overturned a $3 million jury award for a nuisance claim against a petroleum company in which a family claimed natural gas extraction caused contamination of their property. The family alleged that the petroleum company's spills, releases, emissions, and discharges of air pollution ...

A district court refused to remand to state court a case where a plaintiff alleged that exposure to two petroleum companies' benzene-containing products caused him to develop cancer, finding that a party was fraudulently joined to prevent removal. The plaintiff originally sued the petroleum companie...

A district court, on motions for summary judgment, dismissed a lawsuit against EPA filed by a group of beekeepers, farmers, and organizations concerned about the effect of pesticide-treated seeds on bees and other pollinators. The plaintiffs argued that the practice of coating seeds with neonicotino...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the Hawaii Pesticides Law impliedly preempts a county ordinance that seeks to regulate pesticides and genetically engineered plants. The ordinance would have required commercial farmers to maintain “buffer zones” between crops to which pesti...

The Ninth Circuit denied EPA's request for an additional six months to take final action on its proposal to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos in response to an administrative petition filed nearly nine years ago. EPA claimed that "extraordinary circumstances" warranted the extension because it needed a...

A district court held that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a company in two underlying actions seeking contribution for past and future costs incurred at a PCB-contaminated site. The company had sent transformers to the site for repair, during which PCBs were released. The company was ...

A district court granted an oil company's motion to dismiss claims filed against it for economic losses stemming from the government's moratorium on offshore drilling in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil company is a responsible party under OPA, and the plaintiffs—oilfield s...

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that environmental groups have standing to bring a RCRA citizen suit against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to regulate the disposal of spent lead ammunition in the Kaibab National Forest. The groups allege that the Forest Service's failure to ...

A district court held that an individual may go forward with her toxic tort claims against the successor to a manufacturing company that released trichloroethylene (TCE) into the environment near her childhood home. The plaintiff alleges she was exposed to the TCE, which caused her to develop severa...

A district court granted in part motions to dismiss an oil company's OPA, Pipeline Safety Act, and Maryland state-law claims against the alleged owners and operators of an underground pipeline in southeast Baltimore. The company filed suit to recover damages it incurred due to a pipeline leak. All o...