The court holds that the ability to use a river in a recreational manner should be considered in determining whether the river is navigable-in-fact in a trespass case against kayakers and canoers on the South Branch of the Moose River in New York. The kayakers and canoers, who allegedly trespassed o...

The court holds that a property owner cannot maintain an action for forcible ejectment against a company that was ordered to acquire the property owner's land as part of a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act remedial plan. The company, which obtained all of the land...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service must prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for several timber salvage sales on fire-damaged land in the Umatilla National Forest in Oregon. The court first holds that the Forest Service did not take the requisite hard look at the environmental i...

The court holds that a state environmental agency did not have a duty to ascertain the accuracy of the location of wetlands on developers' property. The court first holds that the duty to depict accurately the location of wetlands was properly the duty of the developers and their representatives. It...

The court affirms a district court's grant of summary judgment on several state-law tort claims in favor of pesticide companies whose products allegedly caused a newborn's multiple birth defects. The district court granted summary judgment because the evidence showed that the product at issue had no...

The court denies a potentially responsible party's (PRP's) motion to bifurcate the trial of a property owner's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution claims against the PRP for cleanup costs. The PRP sought to bifurcate the trial into two phases, ...

The court holds that a grandparent corporation is derivatively liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for its subsidiary's actions in arranging for the disposal of toxic waste at a solvent reclamation site in Granville, Ohio. Several potential...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) listing of the Del Amo site in Los Angeles, California, on the national priorities list (NPL) was invalid. The court first holds that the proposal for listing the site on the NPL failed to comply with the Omnibus Consolidated Re...

The court holds that it has subject matter jurisdiction over property owners' Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) claim against private companies for response costs relating to the contamination of their water supply, but the court does not have jurisdictio...

The court holds that two cattle company owners do not have a vested private-property right to graze their cattle in the Apache and Gila National Forests without a U.S. Forest Service permit. The owners argued that because their predecessors-in-title obtained a valid, vested water right under New Mex...