Citizens Development Corp., Inc. v. San Diego, County of
A district court held that cow manure can be a hazardous substance under CERCLA. A citizen group sued a dairy farm for its part in contaminating Lake San Marcos. The dairy farm moved for judgment on the pleadings on the grounds that no actionable hazardous release was claimed. The court held that CE...
Islip, Town of v. Datre
A district court held that defendants responsible for dumping hazardous waste in a town park were not liable under CERCLA because they did not know of the hazardous nature of the material dumped. In 2013, a church pastor requested permission to replace and seed the topsoil of one of the park's socce...
United States v. Gibson Wine Co.
A district court denied a winery's motion to strike claims by EPA under CERCLA, the CAA, and other statutes in connection with a release of ammonia that claimed the life of one worker. In 2012, the winery experienced a 284-pound release of anhydrous ammonia from its refrigeration system. A cloud of ...
United States v. Land O'Lakes, Inc.
A district court held that a food company is not shielded from CERCLA liability by a settlement reached under RCRA related to the same site. EPA brought suit against the food company, a successor to the company that operated the site until 1982, for response costs the Agency occurred or would incur ...
Garrett Day LLC v. Int'l Paper Co.
A district court permitted a contribution suit under CERCLA against a paper company to proceed in a case involving a site in Dayton, Ohio. The site was allegedly contaminated with numerous hazardous chemicals that were used in the paper-making process over the course of 100 years. A commercial prope...
Charter Township of Lansing v. Lansing Board of Water and Light
A district court denied a state water and power board's motion to dismiss a CERCLA suit brought by two goverment entities for costs related to a drain project in Lansing, Michigan. The government entities sued the board for the increase in costs assessed for the building of a storm drain in a distri...
ASARCO, LLC v. Noranda Mining, Inc.
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...