Following notification of impact to a property through the claims notification process, restorers are regularly called upon to make necessary initial decisions regarding water extraction and drying and impacted material...more
On July 23, in MPM Silicones, LLC v. Union Carbide Corp., No. 17-3468(L), 17-3669(XAP), slip op., -- F.3d -- (2d Cir. 2020), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the District Court’s dismissal of...more
The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently released “preliminary draft rules” that would grant variances to the Clean Water Act (CWA) Water Quality Standard (WQS) for PCBs at three public and two private...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) addressed in an April 11th opinion a Section 107(a) (3) Comprehensive Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) arranger issue. See U.S....more
Some cases just make you wonder what people were thinking. I’m not even sure Donald Trump would have tried to get away with what Dico, Inc., tried to get away with. In 1994, EPA issued an administrative order, requiring...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the Trenton Light and Water Department (“TLW”) entered into a June 19th Consent Agreement and Final Order (“CAFO”) addressing alleged violations of certain federal...more
The University of Connecticut will pay $28,125 as part of a settlement with U.S. EPA resolving allegations that UConn improperly disposed of PCB-contaminated soils during a renovation project in 2013. Academic institutions...more
On December 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in the case of Town of Westport, et al., v. Monsanto Company, et al., affirmed the District Court’s ruling granting the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment...more
Astonishingly, in an election year and at a time of unprecedented partisanship, this past June, Congress adopted significant reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) with sweeping support from both sides of the...more
Determining when a person has “arranged” for the disposal of a hazardous substance has long been difficult. The Supreme Court brought some clarity to the issue in Burlington Northern, when it said that...more
Massachusetts Federal Court Holds Proof of Testing of Proposed Alternative Design Not Required in Design Defect Claim, Evidence Plaintiff Ignored Defendant’s Warnings Did Not Establish He Was Sole Proximate Cause of Injury on...more
A Court of Appeal has upheld the Regional Board’s adoption of the total maximum daily load (TMDL) for concentration of pollutants in the sediment in McGrath Lake, rejecting the claim that TMDLs may not be stated in terms of...more