Perhaps you've heard of the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a "plastic soup" of floating waste in the Pacific purportedly twice the size of the United States, but did you know that similar plastic pollution has been documented throughout the Great Lakes? Attorney...
Environmental Contamination & General Liability In New York
UPDATED: Federal Court Upholds $105 Million Judgment Against ExxonMobil in Bellwether Groundwater Contamination Litigation
Here's a pop quiz: after an eleven week trial in federal court, a jury hands down a verdict of nearly $105 million against ExxonMobil for contaminating New York City's drinking water. On appeal, the verdict is upheld. What environmental law enabled the jury to find,...
Soil Vapor Intrusion Concern Prompts EPA to Support Revision to Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Protocol
The health threats posed by physical contact with contaminated soil or groundwater are well known. But increasingly, state and federal regulators are recognizing that harmful vapors from such contamination can be drawn into nearby buildings and pose a threat to the...
Destruction of Oil Spill Investigation Data Ruled Not Sufficiently Prejudicial to Warrant the Dismissal of a Cost Recovery Action Under Navigation Law § 12
Does the destruction of plaintiff's technical data supporting disclosed oil spill investigation reports get a defendant off the hook? Apparently not, decided the Appellate Division (Third Dept.) in a November 2012 decision, rejecting a defense motion to reverse a...
11th Circuit Decision Follows that of Niagara v. Mohawk: Under CERCLA, Parties Who Enter Into Consent Decree with Government Are Limited to a § 113(f) Contribution Claim
Since the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decided Niagara Mohawk Power Corp v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 596 F.3d 112 (2d Cir. 2010), a number of other Circuits have followed the Second Circuit's holding that parties who enter into a consent decree with the U.S....
DEC Did Not Act Outside of Its Authority in Promulgating Regulations that Required Cleanup of Contaminated Properties to “Pre-Disposal Conditions” under the State Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Act
The Court of Appeals of New York recently held that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") did not exceed its authority or act contrary to state law in enacting certain regulations with respect to remedial programs implemented to clean...
EPA lists Gowanus Canal on the National Priorities List
On March 2, 2010, the EPA listed the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn on the National Priorities List (NPL), making it a federal Superfund site. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation urged EPA to consider the Gowanus Canal for inclusion on the NPL in...
Absence of Property Damage During Policy Period
Under New York Law, property damage is deemed to occur within the period of an occurrence-based policy, if injury-in-fact takes place during the policy period. See Continental Casualty Co. v. Rapid-American Corp., 177 A.D.2d 61 (App. Div., 1992). An insurer may only...
Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) Policy
Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) policies protect policy holders against third-party claims for property damage, personal injury and cleanup costs relating to environmental contamination. Typically, a PLL policy will protect can the insured party from loss arising from...
Common Law Recovery of Cleanup Cost for Petroleum Spills
New York's Oil Spill Act, Article 12 of the New York Navigation Law, provides a natural and attractive starting point for people seeking to recover cleanup costs for petroleum spills. The Act imposition of strict liability holds out the promise of avoiding litigation...