DeCicco v. California Coastal Commission
A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission has appellate jurisdiction over a coastal development subdivision project. A county's approval of a "principal permitted use" development within a coastal zone is not appealable to the Commission. But when the development proje...
Sweet Lake Land & Oil Co. v. ExxonMobil Corp.
A district court held that an oil company cannot be held liable for punitive damages in a property owner's case against it for soil and groundwater contamination. The company operated oil and gas wells on the property, and it stored hazardous and toxic materials produced from the wells in an unlined...
Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon"
A district court granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss various individuals' personal injury claims stemming from their exposure to oil and dispersants following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The individuals filed suit against oil drillers, cleanup responders, and a dispersant manuf...
Wilder Corp. of Delaware v. Thompson Drainage & Levee District
The Seventh Circuit held that a landowner who sold a large parcel of floodplain property to a conservation group may not ask a local drainage district to indemnify him for damages he incurred in an underlying breach of warranty suit stemming from petroleum contamination on the property. The landowne...
Raritan Baykeeper v. NL Industries, Inc.
The Third Circuit vacated a lower court decision dismissing, on grounds of abstention, environmental groups' RCRA and CWA citizens suit in which they sought an injunction requiring the current and prior owners of a contaminated site to remediate contaminated sediments in the Raritan River. The group...
Sierra Club v. Jackson
A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss an environmental group's lawsuit challenging the Agency's administrative stay of two rules setting forth hazardous air emission standards for boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incineration units. EPA argued that the court lacked jurisdi...
Patuxent Riverkeeper v. Maryland Department of the Environment
Maryland's highest court held that an environmental group has standing to challenge the state environmental agency's issuance of a nontidal wetlands permit for a development project. The permit allows a town to construct a road extension and stream crossing in order to provide primary access into th...