Recent Developments

• Date: 01 December 2010

12-2010 NEWS & ANALYSIS 40 ELR 11257

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the Courts

ese entries summarize recent cases under the following categories: Air, Hazardous & Solid Wastes/Substances, Land Use,

Natural Resources, Water, and Wildlife. e entries are arranged alphabetically by case name within each category. is mate-

rial is updated monthly. For archived materials, visit http://www.elr.info/NewsAnalysis/archive.cfm.

Air

United States v. Cinergy Cor p., Nos. 09-

3344 et al., 40 ELR 20266 (7th Cir. Oct.

12, 2010). e Seventh Circuit reversed

and remanded a lower court decision

nding a coal-red electric power plant

in the Midwest liable for making “major”

modications to the plant without rst

obtaining a permit from EPA in violation

of the CAA .

Hazardous & Solid

Wastes/Substances

Agee v. Monsanto Co., 40 ELR 20264

(S.D. W. Va. Sept. 29, 2010). A district

court granted an indiv idual’s motion to

remand to state court her personal injury

lawsuit against a chemical company and

its successors for damage s stemming

from the unlawfu l disposal of dioxin and

furan waste at a chemic al plant in Nitro,

West Virginia.

Ash Grove Cement Co. v. Liberty Mu-

tual Insurance Co., No. 09-239, 40 ELR

20269 (D. Or. Sept. 29, 2010). A district

court held that a request for information

from EPA to a cement company under

CERCLA §104(e) constitutes a “suit” un-

der the terms of the company’s insurance

policies, thereby triggering the insu rers’

duty to defend.

Palmtree Acquisition Corp. v. Neely, No.

08-3168, 40 ELR 20271 (N.D. Cal.

Oct. 4, 2010). A district court dismissed,

without prejudice, a company’s third-

party complaint against a family estate

for contribution costs related to PCE

contamination at a shopping center.

Sánchez v. Esso Standard Oil de Puerto

Rico, Inc., No. 08-2151, 40 ELR 20270

(D.P.R. Sept. 29, 2010). A district cour t

dismissed gas st ation operators’ citizen

suit against an oil company for alleged

RCRA and UST regulation violations

and vacated a preliminar y injunction

ordered against the company in a previ-

ous ruling.

., 40

ELR 20260 (D.N.J. Sept. 21, 2010). A

district court dismissed as untimely the

U.S. government’s claim for oversight

costs incurred at the Hopkins Farm

Superfund site in Plumstead Township,

New Jersey.

Land Use

, 40

ELR 20263 (Cal. App. 1st Oct. 6, 2010).

A California appellate cour t reversed and

remanded a lower court decision that a

proposed development project approved

by a county was categorical ly exempt

from environmental review under the

California Environmental Qu ality Act.

Natural Resources

FMC Corp. v. American Cyanamid, No.

01-0476, 40 ELR 202 68 (D.N.J. Sept.

29, 2010). A district cou rt held that the

state of Ne w Jersey wa ived its right to

pursue nat ural resource damage s in its

lawsuit a gainst a company concernin g

groundwater contamin ation on prop-

erty located in Fra nklin Township,

New Jersey.

Meister v. U.S. Department of Agricul-

ture, 40 ELR 20258 (6th Cir. Sept. 29,

2010). e Sixt h Circuit held that the

U.S. Forest Serv ice fa iled to comply

with NEPA and sever al of its own regu-

lations in its 20 06 management plan for

the Huron-Manistee National Forests in

northern Michigan.

eodore Roosevelt Conservation Partner-

ship v. Salazar, 40 ELR 20262 (D.D.C.

Sept. 29, 2010). A district court dis-

missed a hunting and shing org aniza-

tion’s NEPA and FLPMA cla ims against

BLM challenging its approval of oil and

gas operations in the Pinedale A nticline

natural gas eld in we stern Wyoming.

Water

New Hope Power Co. v. United States

Army Corps of Engineers, 40 ELR 20259

(S.D. Fla. Sept. 28, 2010). A district

court held that the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers improperly extended its juris-

diction under the CWA by enacting new

legislative rules related to prior converted

croplands without allowing the required

public notice-and-comment period under

the APA.

In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater

Horizon,” No. 10-CV-1156, 40 ELR

20267 (E.D. La. Oct. 6, 2010). A dis-

trict court denied Louisia na’s motion to

remand to state court its lawsuit aga inst

BP for damages stemming f rom the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Sierra Club v. Elk Run Coal Co., No.

2:10-00673, 40 ELR 20265 (S.D. W. Va.

Oct. 1, 2010). A district court denied

coal companies’ motion to transfer

and/or consolidate an environmental

group’s CWA and SMCRA action

against them for surface mine discharges

with another case brought by the same

Copyright © 2010 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.