Environmental Law

Federal judge who drank Flint water steps aside in case over replacing city’s lead water pipes

A federal judge who drank the water while temporarily assigned to work in a Flint, Michigan, courthouse over a four-month period in 2014 has recused himself from a lawsuit concerning the supply pipeline. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, who currently sits in Detroit, said he has no bias against the…

May 4, 2016 1:30 PM CDT

Municipalities find new funding source by filing class-action suits

A growing number of municipalities throughout the country have found an innovative way to add to their bottom lines—joining class-action suits on a contingency-fee basis. Providence, Rhode Island, has filed 15 securities cases against banks and corporations as an institutional investor since 2011, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).…

May 3, 2016 9:25 AM CDT

Colorado Supreme Court overturns fracking bans enacted by cities

Colorado municipal laws that limit gas and oil development are unenforceable because state law pre-empts them, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday. Fort Collins has a five-year moratorium on fracking within city limits, the Denver Post reports, and Longmont in 2012 banned the process. The municipal laws were challenged by…

May 2, 2016 1:20 PM CDT

Law authorizing garbage inspections for composting scofflaws violates privacy rights, judge rules

A judge in Washington state has enjoined garbage-inspection provisions of a Seattle ordinance that bars residents from placing food waste or compostable paper in garbage containers. Judge Beth Andrus of King County ruled (PDF) on Wednesday, report the Associated Press and the Seattle Times. Andrus said provisions authorizing inspections of…

Apr 28, 2016 9:34 AM CDT

Volkswagen settlement details should be kept secret until filed, judge says after news report

A federal judge in San Francisco fears the public can be misled by stories about diesel emissions litigation against Volkswagen that are published before the tentative agreement is completed. In court on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said he would order parties in the litigation over Volkswagen’s emissions software…

Apr 22, 2016 7:41 AM CDT

3 officials charged in connection with Flint drinking-water crisis

Two state regulators and a city utility official have been charged with evidence-tampering and other alleged crimes in connection with the poisoning of Flint, Mich.’s water supply. The charges were authorized Wednesday by Flint District Court Judge Tracy Collier-Nix, CNN and the Detroit Free Press report. Michigan Attorney General Bill…

Apr 20, 2016 1:30 PM CDT

Maryland program to encourage new generation of electricity is pre-empted, Supreme Court says

A Maryland program that provides incentives for electricity generation is pre-empted by federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s opinion (PDF) for the court said the Maryland program is pre-empted by the federal law giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission exclusive jurisdiction over wholesale…

Apr 19, 2016 11:23 AM CDT

Exxon sues law firm that sought climate change documents

A law firm representing the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands is facing a lawsuit that claims its subpoena for climate-change documents from Exxon Mobil is an abuse of process. Exxon filed the suit last week against Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude…

Apr 18, 2016 8:04 AM CDT

Federal judge gives final OK to $20B settlement by BP in Gulf oil spill disaster

A federal judge in New Orleans on Monday gave the final OK to an estimated $20 billion settlement by BP concerning a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. The ruling by U.S District Judge Carl Barbier followed his earlier finding that the company had been grossly negligent in…

Apr 6, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

Feds reportedly making novel use of civil bank fraud law to pursue new Volkswagen probe

Already facing a multibillion-dollar Clean Air Act suit over admitted cheating on vehicle emission test software, Volkswagen AG may soon have to worry about potential liability under a civil banking law. In a novel application of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, the Department of Justice issued a…

Mar 8, 2016 3:30 PM CST

Chief justice refuses states’ request to stay mercury rule in ‘significant victory’ for EPA

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Thursday refused a request by 20 states to stay an Environmental Protection Agency regulation limiting mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. Roberts’ refusal was “a significant victory for the Obama administration,” the New York Times reports. The article sees Roberts’ action…

Mar 3, 2016 10:56 AM CST

Drought sheds light on the California’s water law deficiencies

It's a classic case of ignoring a problem until forced to face it. In the midst of a four-year drought, when the state had its lowest rainfall ever, California finally established a regulatory regime, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, to control who gets what groundwater.

Mar 1, 2016 3:10 AM CST

Federal jury finds engineer not guilty in BP oil spill case

A federal jury in New Orleans on Thursday found a former BP rig engineer not guilty on a charge that his negligence caused the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill to initially go undetected, the Associated Press reports. Robert Kaluza had been charged with one violation of the federal Clean…

Feb 26, 2016 12:15 PM CST

In SCOTUS first, court stays clean power rule pending DC Circuit review; four justices dissent

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued an unprecedented order that stays the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan from taking effect before review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It is the first time that the court has stayed a regulation before review by a federal appeals…

Feb 10, 2016 7:22 AM CST

Despite conflict, Covington can represent Minnesota in major enviro suit against 3M, judge rules

A five-year legal battle over which law firm will represent the state of Minnesota in a major environmental case against 3M Co. has put the parties back where they were when the case began in 2010. Covington & Burling will continue to represent Minnesota, despite a conflict concerning the law…

Feb 9, 2016 2:45 PM CST