The court upholds the dismissal of a property developer's breach of contract and willful and wanton misconduct claims against its partner for contaminating previously uncontaminated soil on property they sought to redevelop. The developer claimed that by contaminating uncontaminated soil, the partne...

The court holds that a city council, pursuant to a legislative investigation of toxic contamination of groundwater, may issue subpoenas to insurers in order to obtain information relating to liability insurance coverage and claims concerning parties believed to be legally responsible for the contami...

The court affirms a district court decision holding oil companies liable for $240,000 in damages for failing to adequately maintain spoil banks on canals operated by them, resulting in damage to a freshwater flotant marsh in Terrebone Parrish, Louisiana. The owners of the marsh filed suit against th...

The court, applying California law, holds that an insurer had a duty to defend an insured in an underlying Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act groundwater contamination suit when the damage occurred during the policy period even though the insured did not purchase the contam...

The court holds that the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) barred an individual's FTCA claim against the National Park Service for failure to repair or improve a drainage ditch and head-wall along a road in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. After h...

The court affirms a district court decision finding the insurer of a former pesticide manufacturing plant liable for only $11,297 of the approximate $4 million the manufacturer spent remediating soil and groundwater contamination at the plant. The manufacturer owned the plant from 1950 to 1968, over...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it failed to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) prior to the permitting of three casinos on the Mississippi coast. Mississippi law requires casinos to be located on floating vessels...

The court affirms a lower court decision holding an individual liable as an operator of a landfill under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (IEPA). The court first holds that a review of the record as a whole shows that the individual was a landfill operator. Thus, the instant case is not lik...

The court vacates a district court decision granting summary judgment in favor of an oil company claiming that a Hawaii statute proscribing the maximum rent that oil companies can collect from dealers who lease company-owned service stations is an unconstitutional regulatory taking. The court first ...

The court holds that under Virginia law, an insurer has a duty to defend operators of a dry cleaning business from a suit seeking to hold the operators liable for soil and groundwater contamination. The insurer issued a comprehensive general liability policy to the operators for the period of 1991 t...