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Prosecuting Environmental and Toxic Torts
Is Fracking Safe?
In the space of only 36 hours, the Washington Legislature resurrected, and the governor signed into law, a bill that changes the way the Washington Model Toxics Control Act (“MTCA”) provides funding for cleanups at...more
On June 10, 2013, the governor of Oregon signed into law Senate Bill 814, creating sweeping reforms on environmental claims-handling regulations and available remedies for insureds facing liability for cleanup of contaminated...more
In EPEC Polymers, Inc. v. NL Industries Inc., Civ. Action No. 12-3842 (D.N.J. May 24, 2013), defendant NL Industries Inc. owned property on one side of the Raritan River, where it produced and discharged waste to the river. ...more
As noted in the post “EPA Gets the Vapors and Commercial Real Estate Feels the Chill,” EPA is now addressing the issue of vapor intrusion – harmful vapors from soil contamination migrating into buildings. The agency is doing...more
The Brownfield Cleanup Program has encouraged many private-sector cleanups of contaminated real property throughout upstate New York. ...more
In a 78 page decision in the Lower Fox River Superfund case issued last month, the federal court issued an injunction against NCR Corp. and three other PRPs requiring them to perform a $1.5 billion remedy. No company ever...more
Everyone who represents PRPs in Superfund settlements has his or her own horror stories regarding the scope of EPA’s oversight cost claims. We all know that oversight costs can end up as an appreciable percentage of total...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued two guidelines with far-reaching implications for real estate transactions involving contaminated sites, including sites owned by the Department of Defense. The...more
In Anderson v. King America Finishing, Inc., No. 1:11-cv-2258-JEC, 2013 WL 1213267 (N.D. Ga. March 25, 2013), class action plaintiffs alleged that defendant released a toxic chemical into the Ogeechee River from its...more
Just as tortfeasors take their victims as they find them, so PRPs take their hazardous waste sites as they find them. This rule has been around since the beginning of CERCLA and means that a party which arranges for the...more
PCBs were domestically manufactured from 1929 until their manufacture was banned in the United States in 1979. Due to their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point, and electrical insulating properties, PCBs...more
The Fifth Circuit handed down an important decision last week, Louisiana Generating LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance Company, clarifying the scope of coverage under a Premises Pollution Liability Insurance Policy. The...more
Environmental litigation, particularly toxic tort litigation, inevitably turns on scientific evidence about causation. Beginning with the Supreme Court’s Daubert decision in 1993, trial courts have repeatedly been admonished...more
Introduction - Many of our litigation management audits involve complex environmental cleanup cases. In these cases, it is important to first evaluate the underlying matter, including the fact patterns of the various...more
Long-term effects of oil spills remain uncertain, with studies working to provide some answers to the exact health hazards such toxic accidents cause. The recent ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline spill in Arkansas may provide more...more
California Governor Edmund Brown has added his voice to a number of California legislators calling for an overhaul of the state's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 – better known as Proposition 65 (the...more
A few months ago, I blogged on the decision in Duke Energy Progress Inc. v. Alcan Aluminum Corporation where a court held that a company would not be held liable for selling used transformers to a recycling facility for...more
Potential buyers and sellers take note — on April 16, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) issued draft guidance that would require more evaluation of "vapor intrusion" (migration of any hazardous vapors...more
In a decision in Kawartha Lakes (City) v. Ontario (Environment), on May 10, 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal of the City of Kawartha Lakes (the City), which sought to overturn a decision of...more
On April 4, 2013, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a much anticipated decision in PCS Nitrogen, Inc. v. Ashley II of Charleston LLC, No. 11-1662 (4th Cir. April 4, 2013) (Ashley II). ...more
On March 13, 2013, the Oregon legislature introduced Senate Bill 814 to create sweeping reforms on environmental claims handling regulations and available remedies for insureds facing liability for cleanup of contaminated...more
Three years ago, Tilting told tales of oil spill legal problems suffered by Forrest Gump, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Wok Ann chu-gumm Seafood Restaurants, Chef Red Fishy and Bishop Carp. Tilting predicted class action...more
On March 15, 2013, BP asked United States District Court Judge Carl Barbier, Jr. to block the Deepwater Horizon claims administrator from awarding “business economic losses” that BP contends are “fictitious” claims for...more
Businesses involved in clean-up of environmentally contaminated sites often face a time-consuming and expensive process. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency will pilot reforms...more
In a post last year, I discussed what I I thought was the dubious dismissal of a CERCLA cost recovery action in Stratford Holding, LLC v. Fog Cap Retail Investors LLC. ...more
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