The Michigan Supreme Court held that under the state's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), a municipality can be held responsible for, and required to prevent, a discharge of raw sewage that originates within its borders, even when the raw sewage is discharged by a privat...

The Ninth Circuit dismissed environmental and Alaska Native groups' petitions challenging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) approval of an oil company's exploration plan to drill in the Beaufort Sea. BOEM's decision that the company's exploration plan complied with the Outer Conti...

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission exceeded its jurisdiction when it approved amendments to a city's certified local coastal program at the request of state agencies and over the objection of the city. The proposed amendments would override the city's local land...

A district court awarded a company $140,500.72 in costs stemming from an underlying CERCLA case. The company was a prevailing party in the underlying action and is therefore entitled to the costs it seeks. The defendant argued that due to the complexity and difficulty of the case, its good faith...

A district court held that residents may add four new defendants in their lawsuit against energy companies for alleged water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing operations near their homes. During the course of discovery, the residents learned that the proposed defendants participated in t...

A district court denied motions to dismiss an oil company's racketeering claims against an attorney and his clients, a group of Ecuadorians, who were awarded a multibillion dollar judgment by an Ecuadorian court for environmental pollution in the Amazon. The oil company filed suit under the Racke...