Contamination

Ashley II Holdings Require Caution

by Larry Burke | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 5/13/2013

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

Missouri To Pilot Reforms To Corrective Action Clean-Up Program

by Adam Troutwine | Polsinelli on 4/29/2013

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

City of Seattle and King County Agree to Major Upgrades to Settle Discharge Violations

by Lynn Manolopoulos | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 4/23/2013

To settle an enforcement action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the State of Washington (“State”), King County and the City of Seattle have agreed to complete major upgrades to their local sewage and...more

EPA Draft Vapor Intrusion Guidance Is Now Subject To Public Comment

by William J. Walsh | Pepper Hamilton LLP on 4/22/2013

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released and is seeking comments on draft general guidance on methods of addressing indoor vapor intrusion (VI) from contaminated soil and groundwater plumes (Draft VI Guidance)...more

PCS Nitrogen Inc. v. Ashley II of Charleston: Required Reading for Superfund Lawyers

by Robert S. Sanoff | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 4/9/2013

The Fourth Circuit handed down a primer on CERCLA liability last week in PCS Nitrogen Inc. v. Ashley II of Charleston. It should be required reading for Superfund lawyers. The facts in the case are worthy of a law school law...more

District Court Judge Confirms Summary Judgment Victory for Policyholder Regarding the Duty to Defend and the Pollution Exclusion

by Luke Debevec, John Ellison | Reed Smith on 4/2/2013

In January, we reported on developments in Wiseman Oil Co. v. TIG Insurance, a case pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania involving interpretation of the "pollution exclusions"...more

Q&A With Bilzin Sumberg's Howard Nelson

by Howard Nelson | Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP on 3/29/2013

Originally Published in Law360 on March 28, 2013. Howard Nelson, chairman of the environmental practice group at Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, has experience in environmental and land use law and zoning and...more

Some clarification regarding challenges to REACH candidate listing

by Raminta Dereskeviciute, Vanessa Edwards, Scott Megregian | K&L Gates LLP on 3/28/2013

In a series of recent judgments the EU General Court has given some guidance to companies considering challenging the inclusion of their substances in the REACH Candidate List. In summary, it is now clear that the listing of...more

Ontario Court Recognizes “Light” as a Contaminant Under the Environmental Protection Act

by Jack Coop, Jennifer Fairfax, Daniel Kirby, Joshua Krusell, George Valentini, Patrick Welsh | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 3/27/2013

In February 2013, Justice Green of the Ontario Court of Justice held that sunlight reflected from a building can be considered a contaminant under the Ontario Environmental Protection Act (EPA). Justice Green’s ruling, while...more

The United States Allocated 40% of Liability for Contamination Caused by a Contractor’s Manufacturing Operations

by Scott Broadwell, Lynn Manolopoulos | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 3/21/2013

A recent decision by a federal court in the Central District of California found the United States liable for 40% of the response costs related to contamination from the manufacture of ammunition and rocket motors for the...more

The Intersection of Subrogation and Environmental Law — The Ninth Circuit’s Tyranny of Logic over Common Sense

by Robert S. Sanoff | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 3/20/2013

In a decision that exalts casuistry over common sense, the Ninth Circuit recently held that an insurer who reimbursed $2.4 million in CERCLA response costs to its policyholder had no subrogation rights against the potentially...more

Maine DEP Publishes Revised Remedial Action Guidelines On Hazardous Substances For Comment

by Thomas Doyle, Kenneth Gray, Dixon P. Pike | Pierce Atwood LLP on 3/18/2013

The Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) are useful – if conservative – default cleanup guidelines used by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). DEP proposed changes in 2012, and has just proposed changes...more

Revised Trichloroethene Toxicity – How Does This Affect Your Manufacturing Facility?

by Foley & Lardner LLP on 3/12/2013

The following post is provided by our guest author, Graham Crockford from TRC Environmental Corporation. Trichloroethene (TCE) has been produced commercially since the 1920s and was commonly used by manufacturing...more

Hydraulic Fracturing - Studies Without End

by M. Ann Bradley | Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC on 3/5/2013

I recently “googled” the word “fracking” and got back 14,900,000 hits. Every few days you can find an article in a major newspaper or magazine alerting the public to the potential threat to drinking water or harm to the...more

EPA Releases Proposed Cleanup Plan for Lower Duwamish Waterway

by Ame Wellman Lewis | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 3/1/2013

Yesterday, EPA released a proposed plan for cleanup of the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site. The release kicks off the 105-day public comment period. EPA estimates that the cleanup will cost $305 million....more

European Horse Meat Controversy Ensnares Nestle

by Demas Law Group on 2/25/2013

People in the United States have likely been reading with horror about the budding scandal across Northern Europe regarding the discovery of horse meat in several different consumer products that were marketed as beef. The...more

Missouri Federal Court Holds Pollution Exclusion Inapplicable to Exposure to Fumes

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 1/29/2013

In its recent decision in United Fire & Casualty Co. v. Titan Contractors Service, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10716 (E.D. Mo. Jan. 28, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, applying...more

Compounding Pharmacy Implicated in Deaths

by Janet Raasch | Lawyers.com on 1/17/2013

A compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts has been linked to the outbreak of a rare form of fungal meningitis caused by contamination of steroid injections commonly used for back and neck pain...more

EPA Extends Comment Period On Pavillion Groundwater Revised Report

by Cassie J. Dallas | BakerHostetler on 1/16/2013

In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began investigating claims of groundwater contamination in private drinking water wells in and around Pavillion, Wyoming....more

EPA Revises Guidance Regarding Tentants As Bona Fide Prospective Purchasers

by Lynn Manolopoulos | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 1/14/2013

On December 5, 2012, EPA issued new guidance discussing the potential applicability of the bona fide prospective purchaser (BFPP) protection to tenants....more

California Environmental Law and Policy Update - January 10, 2013

by David D. Cooke, Emily L. Murray, Sandi L. Nichols | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 1/11/2013

In This Issue: Environmental and Policy Focus - Supreme Court rejects Ninth Circuit ruling on County of L.A. storm water discharges; Federal judge halts major Lake Tahoe ski resort expansion; Lawsuit seeks to stop Rose...more

New Liability Protection For Tenants On Brownfield Properties

by Jane Luxton | Pepper Hamilton LLP on 1/9/2013

In a December 2012 Guidance Memo, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new enforcement principles intended to enhance protections for tenants on contaminated or previously contaminated “brownfield” properties....more

Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Update: January 2013 - Plaintiffs Bear the Burden of Establishing Causation by Competent Expert...

by Sean Patterson | Sedgwick LLP on 1/7/2013

Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ended 16 years of toxic tort litigation relating to fugitive hexavalent chromium (C6) exposure involving the City of Willits and...more

Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Update: January 2013 - New Jersey Supreme Court Clarifies Requisite Nexus for Liability Under...

by F. Paul Pittman | Sedgwick LLP on 1/7/2013

In New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection v. Dimant, 212 N.J. 153 (2012), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) must establish, by a preponderance of the...more

EPA Revises Guidance On Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Protection For Tenants Under Federal Superfund Law

by Lucas Narducci | Polsinelli on 1/5/2013

On December 5, 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised its enforcement guidance regarding when tenants may be treated as bona fide prospective purchasers (BFPPs). The revised guidance addresses...more

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