Mealey's Pollution Liability : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Pollution Liability

October 16, 2023
W.Va. Mining Company Violated Clean Water Act By Operating Without Permits, Judge Says

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A company violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMRCA) by operating mining sites while its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit modifications were pending, a West Virginia federal judge found in partly granting motions for summary judgment filed by both the company and four environmental groups that brought the citizen suit against it.
October 13, 2023
Environmental Group Appeals Standing Determination In Idling Bus Emissions Dispute

BOSTON — An environmental group appealed to the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Massachusetts federal judge’s order that said the group failed to establish standing because it cannot show that the alleged injuries its members suffered are traceable to alleged state law violations carried out by three bus companies that allowed their buses to idle for too long.
October 13, 2023
Magistrate Denies Companies’ Motion To Dismiss PFAS Case, Says Claims Valid

PORTLAND, Maine — A federal magistrate judge in Maine has denied a motion to dismiss a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) lawsuit, ruling that a fact finder could “plausibly find” that the defendants, companies that supplied PFAS for use at paper mills, “participated to a substantial extent” in carrying on the nuisance at issue because they allegedly knew of the risks of unconfined discharges of PFAS into the environment and failed to provide any warnings.
October 10, 2023
S.C. Federal Judge Abstains In Dispute Over State Agency’s Air Emissions Decision

ROCK HILL, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge abstained from considering whether the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) incorrectly issued a construction permit to the operators of an air-polluting paper mill because the state maintains its own adequate procedure for raising such a challenge.
October 10, 2023
Insured Condo Association Appeals Pollution Exclusion Ruling To 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An insured filed a notice of appeal to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking review of a Georgia federal judge’s ruling that an insurer owes no coverage for underlying suits filed by residents of a condominium building who claim that they were injured as a result of fumes exhausted from a backup power generator because the policies’ pollution exclusions bar coverage.
October 09, 2023
Diversity Of Citizenship Does Not Exist In Sewage Backup Coverage Suit

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A premises environmental liability insurer’s suit seeking a declaration regarding its coverage obligation for an underlying bodily injury suit must be dismissed because complete diversity of citizenship does not exist as the premises environmental liability insurer and the commercial general liability insurer, named as a defendant, are both incorporated in Delaware, a New York federal judge said.
October 04, 2023
N.Y. Federal Judge: Not Enough Evidence To Find Oil Spill Claims Are Time-Barred

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — There is not enough evidence at this stage to determine whether claims of property damage and personal injury raised by residents of a former industrial neighborhood who say they were harmed by an oil spill are time-barred, a New York federal judge found in denying a motion to dismiss filed by the company allegedly responsible for the spill.
October 04, 2023
Colo. Federal Judge Adopts Recommendation In Hazardous Waste Contamination Case

DENVER — A Colorado federal judge wholly adopted the recommendation of a magistrate judge and ruled that the United States is not entitled to sovereign immunity for claims of environmental mismanagement of a hazardous waste treatment facility brought by a Colorado state agency.
October 03, 2023
Supreme Court Rejects Farmers’ Petition Regarding Alleged Pesticide Damage

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a group of Texas farmers who said they were denied due process by the Texas Supreme Court, which found in favor of a chemical company accused of negligently applying pesticides that damaged crops.
October 03, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Decide CERCLA Statute Of Limitations Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 denied a petition for writ of certiorari that asked whether a judgment of liability without a corresponding imposition of costs or award of damages triggers the three-year statute of limitations for contribution costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
October 03, 2023
Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Damages Caused By Stormwater Runoff

ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge granted a homebuilder liability insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract suit after determining that no coverage is afforded for an underlying suit alleging property damages caused by stormwater runoff created by the insured’s construction of a townhome development because the policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage for stormwater runoff.
October 02, 2023
Insurer Agrees To Dismiss Contamination Coverage Suit Following Settlement

ATHENS, Ga. — A commercial general liability insurer agreed to dismiss its suit filed against its insured and others in Georgia federal court and seeking a declaration that its policy’s pollution exclusion bars coverage for an underlying contamination and public nuisance suit arising out of the disposals made by the insured at a landfill after reaching a settlement with its insured and the other named defendants.
September 29, 2023
EPA Sues EBay For Selling Toxic, Pollution-Causing Car Parts, Pesticides

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In a complaint filed in New York federal court on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that eBay Inc. is in violation of federal environmental laws by selling motor vehicle parts and accessories, pesticides and paint remover products that run afoul of pollution standards and are toxic.
September 28, 2023
Senators Want EPA To Declare Public Health Emergency For Ohio Train Derailment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both U.S. senators from Ohio have sent a letter to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking him to declare a public health emergency related to contamination from chemicals that were released when a train operated by Norfolk Southern Corp. derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
September 27, 2023
Ohio Federal Judge Dismisses Claim Concerning Pollution At National Park Site

AKRON, Ohio — A company tasked with cleaning up a former industrial site within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) is not entitled to recovery costs from the United States under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act because the permit it worked under expressly forbade it from seeking those costs, an Ohio federal judge found in partly granting the United States’ motion to dismiss.
September 27, 2023
Indiana Federal Judge: Chicago May Replead Claim Arising From Lake Michigan Spill

HAMMOND, Ind. — The city of Chicago may replead its negligence per se claim brought against United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel) for the company’s alleged release of hazardous chemicals into Lake Michigan because the claim contained a technical pleading error, an Indiana federal judge found in partly granting the company’s motion to dismiss.
September 27, 2023
Federal Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss CWA Claims Against 2 California Cities

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The issuance of new National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to two California cities did not warrant dismissal of Clean Water Act (CWA) claims brought by an environmental group against the cities because the old permits are still relevant for the purposes of enforcement, a California federal judge found in denying the cities’ motion to dismiss.
September 21, 2023
10th Circuit: EPA Erred In Permitting Certain Air Quality Exclusions

DENVER — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acted contrary to law by permitting Colorado to exclude “temporary emissions” from its State Implementation Plan (SIP) regarding air quality standards in the Denver area because the federal regulations implementing the Clean Air Act (CAA) do not permit such exclusions, a majority of a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in partly granting an environmental group’s petition for review of an EPA final rule.
September 20, 2023
Environmental Group Members’ Alleged Injuries Are Not Traceable To Idling Buses

BOSTON — An environmental group failed to establish standing because it cannot show that the alleged injuries its members suffered are fairly traceable to three bus companies the group says violated state law by allowing their buses to idle for too long, a Massachusetts federal judge found in granting the companies’ motions for summary judgment.
September 20, 2023
Pa. Federal Judge Says Its Unclear Whether Liquid Mercury Was Correctly Packaged

PITTSBURGH — Summary judgment is inappropriate on the question of whether a transportation company correctly packaged a shipment of liquid mercury that eventually spilled and caused environmental damage because the recycling company that ordered the shipment of the liquid raised enough evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact, a Pennsylvania federal judge found in denying the transportation company’s motion for summary judgment.
September 19, 2023
North Carolina Panel: ALJ Correctly Found NPDES Permit Was Proper

RALEIGH, N.C. — An administrative law judge (ALJ) correctly found that a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to the operator of a quarry was properly authorized because the permit satisfies state water quality standards, a North Carolina panel found in reversing a trial court’s decision to grant a petition for review of the ALJ’s decision.
September 19, 2023
Washington Federal Judge Dismisses Some Paper Mill Contamination Claims

TACOMA, Wash. — In partly granting a motion to dismiss, a Washington federal judge dismissed claims of unjust enrichment, promissory estoppel, equitable estoppel and transfer of insurance assets by operation of law brought by a company that alleges that the extent of environmental damage on the property of a paper mill it purchased was not properly disclosed.
September 18, 2023
Government Urges High Court To Uphold ‘Bedrock Principle’ Of Chevron Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. secretary of Commerce, two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the government) urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 15 brief to not overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference in a challenge to fishery regulations that were upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, writing that doing so could “cause disruption” to complex federal regulatory schemes.
September 18, 2023
Vermont High Court Upholds Jury’s Decision To Award No Damages For Home Oil Spill

MONTPELIER, Vt. — A jury’s decision not to award damages to a homeowner for a spill of home heating oil in her basement was not inconsistent with its findings that the heating company was the proximate cause of her injury because the jury found that the homeowner failed to meet her burden of proving damages by a preponderance of the evidence, the Vermont Supreme Court found Sept. 15 in affirming a trial court’s decision to deny the homeowner’s motion for a new trial.
September 18, 2023
Washington Panel: Agency’s Issuance Of Water Permits Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious

TACOMA, Wash. — The Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) did not act arbitrarily or capriciously when it issued permits to municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) operators within the state because it has discretion over the drafting and issuing of such permits, a Washington panel found in affirming a Pollution Control Hearings Board decision.