Guam v. United States
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a settlement of environmental liabilities must resolve a CERCLA-specific liability to give rise to a contribution action under §113(f)(3)(B), in a lawsuit concerning a landfill in Guam formerly owned by the U.S. Navy. After entering into a consent decree...
Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
In an unpublished opinion, the Fourth Circuit upheld the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant Maryland a CWA §404 permit for a mass transportation project. An environmental group and state residents argued that the Corps granted the permit without considering alternatives other than the optio...
Rio Hondo Land & Cattle Co., L.P. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Tenth Circuit denied a company's petition to review an Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) decision denying its petition to review a 2017 permit issued by EPA to an upstream wastewater treatment plant. In its petition, the company argued the permit constituted backsliding under the CWA, particular...
The Blackstone Headwaters Coalition, Inc. v. Gallo Builders, Inc.
The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a ruling in a CWA citizen suit brought against developers of a construction site in Worcester, Massachusetts. An environmental group argued that one developer violated the CWA by failing to obtain a general construction permit, and that both de...
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. Edwards
A district court denied a motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit concerning irrigation of a golf course in Big Sky, Montana. Environmental groups argued a Montana water district over-irrigated the course, resulting in nitrogen and other pollutants leaching into groundwater that naturally sit...