The court holds that a suit seeking to enforce various federal environmental laws against a debtor in an ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding may be withdrawn from the bankruptcy judge and is exempt from the automatic bankruptcy stay.
The court first holds that the suit, alleging violations of ...

The court holds that a county ordinance declaring the permanent disposal of hazardous wastes in Fairmont, West Virginia, to be a public nuisance is not preempted by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or by the West Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Act (WVHWMA) and does not ban safe...

The court holds that although a property owner demonstrated the likelihood of success on the merits of an action to prevent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entry onto its land to remove hazardous wastes located there as a result of a dispute over the measures to be taken by plaintiff to comply...

In a private action to recover response costs pursuant to §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the court holds that plaintiff water company must obtain prior governmental approval of its remedial actions as a prerequisite to recovery of its cos...

In a suit brought by owners of an interstate railroad facility seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent Delaware from enforcing its state Noise Control Act, the court holds that plaintiffs have demonstrated a reasonable probability of success on the merits for their argument that the federal Nois...

The court holds that a city requesting the modification of a sewage treatment consent decree must be allowed to present evidence supporting its allegation of mutual mistake in the need for construction of new treatment facilities, despite a clause in the decree providing that technological infeasibi...

The court holds that in a civil enforcement proceeding under the Clean Air Act, the district court lacks jurisdiction to determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) properly classified §112 hazardous air pollutant regulations as emission standards, and, alternatively, that the regul...

The court holds that the Secretary of the Interior's Public Interest Determination (PID) for the exchange of National Wildlife Refuge lands with three Alaska Native corporations under §1302(h) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) misanalyzed the risks and benefits and led...

The court holds that a nuisance suit for injunctive relief is barred by res judicata when the United States and Alabama signed a consent decree without fraud, collusion, or conflict of interest following a parens patriae suit against the present defendant. The court first holds that the consent decr...

The court holds that an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the renewal of permits for shell dredging in Lousiana waters must be prepared if the environmental assessment (EA) concludes that the dredging "may" significantly degrade the human environment, but that the effect of legally enforceable...