The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that barred a mining company from pursuing a CERCLA contribution claim for the Lower Silver Creek/Richardson Flat site because of representations it made to a bankruptcy court concerning its settlement agreement with EPA. In 2009, as part of a Chapt...

A district court, on cross-motions for summary judgment, held that a utility company should not be held liable under CERCLA for the release of hazardous substances on two properties owned by an energy company. The energy company brought this action under CERCLA to recover cleanup costs it incurred i...

A district court denied as untimely a newspaper’s motion to intervene in a case involving a 27-year-old CERCLA action. The newspaper claimed it had, under state law, the right to information related to confidential settlement negotiations that took place between the U.S. government and a mining co...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed in part a lower court's decision that a climate scientist may go forward with his defamation suit against two journalists for writing articles that criticized his conclusions about climate change and accused him of deception and academic and scientific misconduct. The journ...

A district court held that a manufacturing company is entitled to $1.7 million in litigation costs from its insurer in an underlying 2003 lawsuit concerning hazardous waste contamination at one of the company's properties stemming from the 1950s. The insurer alleged that the property damage occurred...

A district court adopted a magistrate judge's recommendations and denied motions to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of young people against the U.S. government for failing to protect them from climate change. The plaintiffs alleged that the government has known for decades that carbon dioxide (...

The Ninth Circuit upheld NMFS' decision to list a distinct population segment (DPS) of the Pacific bearded seal under the ESA based on future impacts of climate change. Using climate projections, NMFS determined that even though the species is not presently endangered, the loss of sea ice over shall...

A New York court ordered an oil company and its financial consultant to turn over documents in response to a subpoena issued by the New York Attorney General in connection with his investigation of the company's alleged misrepresentations about the impact of climate change on the company's business....

The Federal Claims Court held that DOE owes an energy company nearly $34.5 million in damages for failing to perform its contractual obligations to remove spent nuclear fuel from a nuclear power plant in New York. The court granted all of the company's claims except for the Part 171 NRC fees, the re...