The Ninth Circuit held that a property owner who purchased the site at a tax sale is not entitled to CERCLA's third-party defense to liability for cleanup costs. The purchaser had a "contractual relationship" with the prior owner by virtue of the tax sale. Given the breadth of CERCLA's definition of...
The Eighth Circuit held that a lower court must hold a new trial with respect to a family's claims for punitive damages against a former manufacturing company for tricholorethylene contamination that allegedly caused their daughter to develop autoimmune hepatitis. The contamination occurred between ...
A district court held that EPA violated the APA by failing to provide notice and opportunity to comment before delaying the effective date of a January 2017 rule concerning the certification and use of “restricted use pesticides." The rule, which was to go into effect on March 6, 2017, established...
A district court dismissed environmental groups' lawsuit against the FDA concerning the use of formaldehyde and formaldehyde-producing chemicals in hair-straightening products. The groups petitioned the FDA to investigate deceptive labeling of such products, require appropriate labeling, and conside...
The D.C. Circuit dismissed a mining company's lawsuit challenging EPA's decision to place the entire Bonita Peak Mining District, located in Colorado's Mineral Belt, on the NPL. The mining company owns a mine located in the district, but its mine was not one of the sites scored under the hazard rank...
A district court issued a preliminary injunction enjoining California from enforcing Proposition 65’s carcinogenicity warning requirement for glyphosate. On the evidence before the court, the required warning for glyphosate does not appear to be factually accurate and uncontroversial because it co...
A district court held that residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago cannot intervene in a CERCLA settlement agreement after the agreement was approved. In 2016, residents of the housing complex were told to evacuate the complex because of severe contamination from the USS Lead S...