Maine's highest court upheld the conviction entered against an individual hired to remove contamination stemming from an oil spill after a large piece of logging equipment caught on fire. Instead of cleaning up the site, the individual merely removed some of the contaminated soil and dumped it at a ...
A district court held that it lacks jurisdiction over a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands natural resources commissioner against two chemical companies for negligence, strict liability, and nuisance in connection with the contamination of an aquifer that was once a significant source of drink...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision remanding to state court residents' class action lawsuit against a mining company for property contamination stemming from the company's mining operations. The residents originally filed the suit in state court, but the company removed the case to fe...
A California appellate court affirmed a trial court's judgment dismissing a land company's complaint against a city that terminated the company's environmental review of a proposed development project and rejected the project before the completion of a draft environmental impact report (EIR) under t...
A district court held that a city complied with the California Environmental Quality Act in approving a master plan for a project on city-owned greenbelt property. The project will have a significant effect on the habitat of the Santa Cruz tarplant due to the chosen alignment of a multi-use trail. T...
A district court held that two local ordinances declaring it unlawful for any corporation to engage in mining activities within the township are invalid and void. Pennsylvania's Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act expressly states that the commonwealth maintains primary jurisdiction...
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision upholding two rules adopted by a local air pollution control district designed to encourage developers to reduce indirect pollution, such as mobile source emissions, caused by new development projects. Under the rules, commonly referred to...
The Second Circuit denied a petition for writ of mandamus challenging a district court order denying a California water district's motion to remand its suit against corporations that manufactured, refined, marketed, or distributed gasoline containing methyl tertiary butyl ether to California state c...
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a citizen group's 42 U.S.C. §1983 action against state park officials for refusing to include in the park's display racks pamphlets warning of asbestos in the park. A park is a traditional public forum, and thus the park authorities...
The Ninth Circuit held that a city's mobile home rent control ordinance, which effects a transfer of nearly 90 percent of the property value from mobile home park owners to mobile home tenants, constitutes a facial regulatory taking under Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 10...