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...

A district court held that the federal government must answer claims that it is liable for the cleanup of World War II-era hazardous waste from 12 oil refineries in seven states. Property owners brought a contribution claim against the U.S. government under CERCLA, claiming that the government exerc...

A district court held that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) being regulated under TSCA does not bar a Wisconsin couple from bringing a citizen suit under RCRA against a neighboring property owner for releasing PCBs during the demolition of a building on its property. The couple alleged that the demo...

A district court held that gas companies will have to face monetary compensation claims under the the New Jersey Spill Act for releases at five sites. The case concerns releases of Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) at five gas stations in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Enviro...