Weekly Cases Update Volume 42, Issue 5

The cases listed below appear in the most recent issue of ELR's Weekly Update. For cases previously reported, please use the filter on the left.

Volume 42, Issue 8

Northwest Environmental Advocates v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
ELR 200613:05-cv-01876-AC,(D. Or., )

A district court held that EPA violated the CWA when it failed to review Oregon's nonpoint source rules. The nonpoint source provisions create exemptions for many sources of pollution in Oregon's waters, including agriculture, forestry, and grazing.

Keywords:
Nonpoint source discharges, Water pollution
Scottsdale Indemnity Co. v. Village of Crestwood
ELR 2006311-2385 et al.(7th Cir., )

The Seventh Circuit held that an insurance company has no duty to defend or indemnify a town in underlying lawsuits alleging that it knowingly supplied contaminated drinking water to its residents.

Keywords:
Groundwater, Held to bar
Solutia, Inc. v. McWane, Inc.
ELR 2006210-15639(11th Cir., )

The Eleventh Circuit held that parties subject to a consent decree may not file claims for cost recovery under §107(a) of CERCLA and that their remedies are limited to filing claims for contribution under CERCLA §113(f).

Keywords:
Contribution protection for settling parties, §113(f)(2), Covered persons, §107(a)
Shell Oil Co. v. United States
ELR 200592010-5161(Fed. Cir., )

The Federal Circuit vacated a trial judge's decision requiring the United States to indemnify certain oil companies for environmental cleanup costs under CERCLA.

Keywords:
Recusal