New York State Electric & Gas Co. v. FirstEnergy Corp.
The Second Circuit affirmed in part and remanded in part a lower court decision holding the corporate successor to a utility's former parent company liable for a portion of costs incurred cleaning up coal tar contamination at manufactured gas plant sites in upstate New York. The lower court held the...
United States v. Coeur d'Alenes Co.
The Ninth Circuit upheld a consent decree under CERCLA requiring a PRP to pay $350,000, plus interest, in cleanup costs incurred at a former lead and silver mine site in Bonner County, Idaho. CERCLA authorizes the United States to settle with a PRP for an amount less than that PRP’s proportionate ...
Asarco, LLC v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
The Eighth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a company's breach of contract and contribution claims against a railroad in connection with a lead-contaminated Superfund site in Omaha, Nebraska. The company paid approximately $200 million to settle its liability with the government, and the railroad set...
Arizona v. City of Tucson
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision approving CERCLA consent decrees between settling parties and the state concerning cleanup costs stemming from a hazardous waste site near Tucson, Arizona. Several nonsettling PRPs intervened in the case, seeking a court ...
CTS Corp. v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit denied a petition for review challenging EPA's decision to add property formerly owned by a manufacturing company to the NPL. The company argued that in listing the site, EPA failed to properly consider and analyze relevant data. But the company's objections were without merit. EPA ...
High Country Conservation Advocates v. United States Forest Service
A district court vacated the government's approval of on-the-ground mining exploration activities in a part of western Colorado's North Fork Valley and enjoined the intervening mining companies from proceeding with the project until the agencies comply with NEPA. Although the federal agencies provid...