Clik here to view.
Judge Trims Federal Securities Claims In BP Oil Spill Shareholder MDL
HOUSTON - A federal judge in Texas on Feb. 6 granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss filed by BP PLC and certain of its subsidiaries and former executive officers, ruling that although...
View ArticleClik here to view.
4th Circuit Finds No Error In Admission Of Government Expert's Testimony
RICHMOND, Va. - A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 7 upheld a federal judge's ruling that the federal government did not contribute to tricholoroethylene (TCE) contamination at a site...
View ArticleClik here to view.
7th Circuit: Emails Between Justice Department Sections Are Protected Work...
CHICAGO - Emails and memos exchanged between two sections of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in charge of enforcing environmental laws and defending the government in suits brought under the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Judge Finds Man's Intent Still An Issue In Superfund Cleanup Suit
DENVER - A federal judge in Colorado on March 7 rejected the majority of a magistrate judge's Jan. 16 report and recommendation suggesting the denial of the federal government's motion for summary...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Magistrate Judge Recommends Approving Settlement In Chevron's Cost-Recovery Suit
FRESNO, Calif. - In an order entered March 6, a federal magistrate judge in California recommended approving a $255,000 settlement between Ensign U.S. Drilling (California) Inc., Chevron U.S.A. and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Judge Approves Agreement Between Government, Mining Company For Cleanup Costs
POCATELLO, Idaho - A federal judge in Idaho on March 6 approved an agreement between a plaintiff mining company and the federal government over the allocation of cleanup costs for selenium...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grace Must Remediate Superfund Site, Pay Costs In Deal With EPA
WILMINGTON, Del. - W.R. Grace & Co. will clean up a federal Superfund site in Nashville, Tenn., and pay the Environmental Protection Agency more than $150,000 for past cleanup costs plus the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Judge Stays Cleanup Suit While Government Determines Total Cost
ST. LOUIS - A federal judge in Missouri on March 11 stayed a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act suit brought by Asarco LLC seeking contribution and recovery of moneys...
View ArticleClik here to view.
11th Circuit: Carpet Selvedge Supplier Properly Awarded Summary Judgment
ATLANTA - An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 5 affirmed an award of summary judgment to a company that supplied recycled carpet waste, known as carpet selvedge, to a co-defendant,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Judge: Coke Company Can Raise Entrapment-By-Estoppel Defense In CAA Case
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Towanda Coke Corp. (TCC) and its environmental control manager can raise the entrapment-by-estoppel defense in a criminal suit brought against them by the government over violations of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sierra Club Entitled To Portion Of Requested Attorney Fees, Judge Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal judge in the District of Columbia on March 4 held that the Sierra Club was entitled to $15,583.71 of the $37,275.92 in attorney fees requested by the environmental group...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Judge: Court Need Not Monitor City's Compliance With Consent Decree
CONCORD, N.H. - A federal judge in New Hampshire on Feb. 15 granted the federal government's motion to modify a consent decree entered against the City of Portsmouth, N.H., that extended the deadlines...
View ArticleClik here to view.
U.S. Government Sues Bankrupt ATP Oil & Gas For Violations Of Environmental Law
NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. government on Feb. 12 sued bankrupt oil and gas company ATP Oil & Gas Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, contending that the company made...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Judge: Lease Agreement Requires Company To Indemnify Exxon Mobil For Cleanup
PORTLAND, Ore. - A federal judge in Oregon on March 11 granted in part Exxon Mobil Corp.'s motion for summary judgment in a cleanup action brought against it under the Oregon Hazardous Waste Act after...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Group Files Notice Of Intent To Sue Contractor Over Coal Ash Disposal
PITTSBURGH - Attorneys for the Citizen's Coal Council (CCC), a group that advocates for the full enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), on March 13 sent a notice of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
5th Circuit: Not Enough To Merely Show That Insurer Was A 'Bad Actor'
NEW ORLEANS - The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 22 affirmed a lower court's final amended judgment in favor of a liability insurer in a coverage suit arising from environmental cleanup...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oregon Appeals Panel Remands Attorney Fee Award For Recalculation
SALEM, Ore. - An attorney fee award entered in an insured's favor must be remanded because it includes fees for work performed concerning the duty to indemnify, a matter on which the insured was not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Policies Were Not Properly Assigned, Illinois Appeals Panel Determines
CHICAGO - An insurer has no duty to defend an insured's successor against environmental contamination claims because the insurance policies at issue were not properly assigned to the successor company,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Divided Panel Reverses JNOV In $5M Asbestos Case As Premature, Unsupported
LOS ANGELES - The evidence supports a jury's $5 million verdict against an asbestos supplier, and a judge violated legislative guidelines by granting preverdict motions as if they were a motion for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Poor Quality Exclusion Precludes Coverage, 2nd Circuit Affirms
NEW YORK - The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 14 affirmed a lower federal court's ruling that an insurance policy's poor quality exclusion precludes coverage for underlying claims that...
View Article