The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, decided that the owners of a family cottage were not entitled to compensation over development regulations that bar the sale of the family's adjacent lot. The family wanted to sell the lot to finance an upgrade to their cottage, and argued that St. Croix...
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the legislature’s diversion of oil and gas royalties from public lands to the general fund for non-conservation purposes violated the state constitution. In 1955, the legislature created an oil and gas lease fund, and required all rents and royalties from...
A Minnesota appeals court held that the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) erred by not obtaining a federal permit for a construction project that affected a lake's water level. Hoffman Lake and West McDonald Lake are separated by a strip of land less than 10 feet wide. In 2015, a...
A district court held that a mining company will not face CERCLA liability as a successor to another company because there was no overlap in ownership. The mining company and a lumber company purchased adjacent lots from an industrial company whose subsidiary operated a zinc and lead mine on...
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
A Virginia appeals court held that ash from incineration of biosolids at a wastewater treatment plant cannot be used to raise the ground level of a flood-prone agricultural field. In 2008, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) began using the ash to raise the ground level of flood-prone...
