A landowner who dumps debris into a marshland area of a navigable river with the intent of filling the marsh, thereby damaging the ecological balance of the river, must have a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Failure to have a permit when depositing refuse in a navigable waterway constitutes...

Two chemical corporations located in Canada are held subject to an Ohio court's in personam jurisdiction under the state's long-arm statute, and the court permanently enjoins both defendants from any further discharges of mercury into the tributaries of Lake Erie. The lake and its tributaries consti...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a lower court ruling that Con Ed may not dump rock and fill material from its Storm King Project into the Hudson River without first obtaining a permit from the Corps of Engineers under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. A...

In a suit to block defendant developers and the city of Grand Haven from planned construction of a city street and a water pipeline through a duneland nature preserve, the court denies defendant's motion for summary judgment and holds that the Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970 is neither...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals holds that the doctrine of primary jurisdiction requires the reversal and remand of a district court ruling that the Wilderness Act prohibits the exercise of private mineral rights within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) of the Superior National Forest. The l...

The Vermont Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the state's Land Gains Tax that imposes a levy determined by the gain and the holding period on the sale or exchange of land held less than six years. The plaintiff's claims that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause have failed to ov...

The court enjoins defendant's discharges of asbestos-like fibers into the air and Lake Superior after finding that exposure to these fibers can produce cancer and other asbestos related diseases. Several municipalities, including Duluth, use this portion of the lake for drinking water, and the court...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stays for 70 days a district court order enjoining defendants' discharge of taconite tailings containing asbestos-like fibers into Lake Superior. The stay is subject to the condition the defendants take prompt steps to prepare and implement an appropriate plan for...

The court upholds an AEC order issuing an operating license to the Boston Edison Company for its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station after finding that the Commission's action did not violate either NEPA, the Atomic Energy Act, or the Administrative Procedure Act. The final environmental impact statement'...

Commercial fishermen seek damages under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 for loss of potential fishing profits resulting from the Santa Barbara oil spill caused by defendant oil company's negligence. The Ninth Circuit Courtof Appeals holds that the oil company owed a duty to the fisherm...