After settling with EPA and having its settlement upheld in court, a potentially responsible party (PRP) is free from liability to all other PRPs given notice of that proposed settlement under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act...
Month: September 2014
Recent Endangered Species Act Verdict Reinforces Traditional Legal Principles
Though the Endangered Species Act has very strong prohibitory language, in practice its bark is sometimes much worse than its bite. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in The Aranas Project v. Shaw, et al. has preserved the statute's...
Jury Verdict Awarded in Hydraulic Fracturing Case
In a groundbreaking verdict, a Texas jury has awarded damages to a family for injuries suffered due to air pollution from hydraulic fracturing ("hydrofracking") drilling operations. This verdict follows almost inexorably from the rise in popularity in the past decade...
County Water Authority has Standing to Sue for Groundwater Contamination, but Timeliness is Governed by New York’s Three Year Statute of Limitations
Fixed contaminant standards need not be reached, much less exceeded, in order to cause an injury that courts can recognize. An intermediate appeals court in New York has ruled that the Suffolk County Water Authority may sue chemical companies for groundwater...
