The court holds that a district court properly ruled that the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT's) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) claim for response costs against the successor of a bankrupt railroad four years after the close of b...

The court holds that a district court properly denied attorney fees to the sponsor of a small hydroelectric project for its attempts to obtain declaratory relief in administrative proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), but the district court erred by denying attorney fee...

The court holds that a district court erred when it interpreted pollution exclusion clauses in comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance policies as not relieving an insurer of its duty to defend and reimburse an insured for its liability at hazardous waste sites. A defense industry manufactur...

The court holds that an appeal by commercial fishermen from a federal district court's dismissal of the fishermen's constitutional taking, equal protection, and due process challenge of a court-approved Michigan plan to restore aboriginal fishing rights to Michigan Indians, involving exclusive fishi...

The court holds that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps') cease and desist order requiring a land developer to suspend construction on wetlands' portions of a residential development for three years did not constitute a taking of property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amend...

The court holds that a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notifying a potentially responsible party (PRP) that it may be liable for cleanup costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is not a "suit" triggering an insurer's duty to...

The court holds that the owner of a Minnesota site contaminated with hazardous substances has stated a cause of action, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act (MERA), and common law, against a dissolved corpora...

The court holds that a lawsuit by individuals against a chemical company for damages based on injuries resulting from exposure to thorium-containing fill material was properly removed to federal court, because the chemical company brought a third-party complaint against officials of the U.S. Environ...

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the South Carolina Supreme Court directs the trial court to make specific findings of damages, commencing with the date of enactment of the 1988 state Beachfront Management Act through the date of the court's order, to compensate a landowner for a temporary dep...

The court holds, applying Michigan law, that a former employee of a company that was forced to shut down due to the cleanup and remediation costs of environmental contamination at its business site, which was alleged to have come from an adjoining manufacturing plant, has failed to allege all the re...