The Supreme Court of California reversed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of an importer that sells athletic shoes made from kangaroo leather. The case arose after an animal rights group filed suit against the importer for violating California Penal Code §653o, which prohibits...

A district court remanded to state court a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lawsuit against a manufacturing company in which it seeks reimbursement of cleanup and removal costs and damages incurred at the Woodland Dump site. The agency filed suit under the New Jersey Spill Act and N...

A Wisconsin appellate court held that a lower court erred in dismissing insurers from a property owner's breach of contract claim against the former owner of the property for environmental contamination. As part of the sales contract between the former and current owners, the former owner warranted ...

The Michigan Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court ruling that environmental groups have standing to bring a claim against a bottled water company under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) for allegedly damaging certain streams, lakes, and wetlands. Case law ...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurance company in a case involving several personal injury actions arising from the operation of an oil and gas production facility next to Beverly Hills High School. The complaints allege that hazardou...

A California appellate court upheld a city's approval of changes in a plan for a large real estate development project in downtown Los Angeles. Rival developers argued that the modified project is so different as to constitute a new project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). They...

The Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision denying Tennessee's motion to clarify its obligations under a 1985 consent decree regarding its plans to improve a stream. The state wanted to transform 1.5 miles of the stream into a 2.4-mile "meandering channel" to mimic the natural co...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not preempt certain provisions of local "fleet rules" requiring operators to meet specified emission standards or engine requirements, but reversed and remanded the court's refusal to consider whether the CAA preempt...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part lower court rulings in an action initially brought by over 2,000 residents against the operators of the Hanford Nuclear Weapons Reservation in southeastern Washington claiming that emissions from the facility caused various cancers and other li...

A California appellate court upheld water quality orders issued by a regional water board requiring a county to establish limitations for coliform effluent in groundwater underlying a county-operated, youth correctional facility wastewater treatment plant. The county argued that the board misapplied...