Oxford Mining Co. v. Nally
An Ohio appellate court held that the state environmental review board erred in affirming portions of Ohio EPA's CWA §401 water quality certification that prohibited a coal mining company from impacting certain wetlands. The mining company, which has a permit to mine approximately 1,100 acres of la...
Hawai'i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui
A district court held that a Hawaiian county violated the CWA by discharging effluent without a NPDES permit at two of four injection wells at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. At issue was whether the discharges were from a point source. The county argued that when a single point source ...
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Fola Coal Co.
A district court held a West Virginia coal mine liable under the CWA for discharging excessive amounts of ionic pollution, measured as conductivity and sulfates, into the waters of West Virginia in violation of its NPDES permits. Environmental groups established, by a preponderance of the evidence, ...
Sierra Club v. ICG Hazard, LLC
The Sixth Circuit held that the CWA's permit shield protects a surface coal mining company from liability for selenium discharges. The company, which operates under a state-issued general NPDES permit, discharged selenium into surrounding water. Although the permit did not specify effluent limitatio...