Cancelled Teck Oil Sands Project Underscores Global Climate-Energy Policy Tension - "The Frontier project became the latest casualty in oil-producing countries with robust environmental movements agitating to cut...more
Recently, the use of coal has been most highlighted in the power production industry, although coal has been used for generations in many industries. For example, steel, paper, chemicals, and oil refining industries utilize...more
I under took a presentation at the April 18th Arkansas Environmental Federation Water Conference (“Conference”) titled: Does a Discharge to Groundwater Require an NPDES Permit? (“Presentation”) The Presentation focused...more
Federal environmental law governing coal ash ponds used by many regulated electric utilities remains uncertain after a flurry of recent activity at the Environmental Protection Agency and in the courts. This update addresses...more
In the evolving Sierra Club v. Virginia Electric & Power Company case, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has just reversed a Virginia-based federal district court on the key issue of whether a coal ash...more
Whether the Clean Water Act regulates discharges to groundwater has been a topic of significant debate. At this point, there seems to be something of a trend in the cases towards concluding it does, but it remains true that...more
On August 4, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee issued a very significant ruling in the case of Tennessee Clean Water Network, et al., v. Tennessee Valley Authority. The District Court has ordered...more
Utilities around the country have developed preliminary closure plans for surface impoundments storing coal ash, gypsum, and other coal combustion residuals (CCR). Some ash ponds are already in the process of closing. To...more
The news has been full of stories and articles concerning Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR), also referred to as coal ash. CCR became a hot topic in 2008 when a coal ash pond at a utility plant in Tennessee spilled more than 5...more
A stay of derivative litigation is hard to get even when there is another case pending elsewhere. But when, as here, the other litigation may expose the company to significant liability, a stay of the derivative action...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 19, 2014, issued a much anticipated and certain to be controversial final rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) on the RCRA regulatory status...more
In This Issue: Energy and Climate Debate; Congress; Administration; Department of Energy; Department of State; Environmental Protection Agency; Federal Energy Regulation Commission; Government Accountability Office;...more