Chemical transport, tank cleaning and transportation depot operators breathed a sigh of relief in March 2024 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dropped provisions from a proposed rule when it issued its final...more
The Accidental Chemical Release Rules have an effective date of May 10, 2024, and includes a number of situations requiring compliance, generally by May 10, 2027. The new Clean Water Act facility response plan...more
On November 29, Ohio Attorney General (AG) Dave Yost and Governor Mark DeWine announced a proposed $110 million settlement with Du Pont De Nemours and Co. and The Chemours Company over alleged chemical contamination from...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“5th Circuit”) addressed in an October 27th Opinion an issue arising out of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”) and Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the launch of its Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) Environmental Crimes Task Force. This new task force will focus specifically on combating...more
A few hours after dinner time on Feb. 3, and approximately 20 miles following a dramatic slow-down from a speed of 50 miles per hour to about half that, a Norfolk Southern freight train consisting of 38 cars – 11 of which...more
Chemical manufacturers and petroleum refiners are closely tracking the latest activities of a high-level agency working group formed pursuant to President Obama’s Executive Order (13,650) responding to the West, Texas,...more
EPA has made reducing the risk of accidental releases of hazardous chemicals at industrial and chemical facilities one of its top enforcement priorities for 2017 to 2019. This increased enforcement focus on industrial...more
Overview - In the wake of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent $5.6 million settlement with Bayer CropScience under Clean Air Act Section 112(r), companies should expect more from EPA in the...more
Even before the June 6, 2014 effective date of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act” or “Act”), W. Va. Code §§ 22-30-1 et seq., representatives of the industries most impacted by the expansive and detailed AST Act...more
MASS TOXIC TORTS - West Virginia Chemical Spill Prompts Wave of Lawsuits - The January 9th, 2014 chemical release at a Freedom Industries, Inc. facility in West Virginia has shown, yet again, that major...more