NL Indus., Inc. v. State
The New Jersey Supreme Court held that the state hazardous waste spill law, which waives state immunity for hazardous waste suits, does not apply to spills that predate the law. In 1968, a development corporation built a seawall on state-owned land. In 2007, the state environmental department detect...
Neodesha, City of v. BP Corp. N. Am. Inc.
A district court held it had no authority to impose municipal penalties in a case involving a Kansas city's groundwater contamination claims against an oil company. The city sued the oil company in federal court for allowing benzene and other volatile organic compounds to accumulate at its propertie...
Pope Resources, LP v. Washington State Department of Natural Resources
A Washington State appellate court held that the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) can be held liable as an "owner or operator" under the state Model Toxic Control Act (MTCA) at the Port Gamble Bay and Mill site. The Department of Ecology determined that activities at the site between 1853...
Olin Corp. v. Insurance Co. of North America
A district court held that a manufacturing company is entitled to $1.7 million in litigation costs from its insurer in an underlying 2003 lawsuit concerning hazardous waste contamination at one of the company's properties stemming from the 1950s. The insurer alleged that the property damage occurred...