July 2010
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Owner During Cleanup is the “Current Owner” for Purposes of CERCLA, 9th Circuit Says
By Rachel Loftspring On July 22, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, on a question of first impression, considered which of two potentially responsible parties–one that owned a property when a recovery claim accrued and the other that owned that same property when a suit was filed–constitutes the “current owner” for… Continue reading
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Fourth Circuit Says No to Interstate Nuisance Claim
On July 26, 2010, the Fourth Circuit overturned a January 2009 district court decision that had found that emissions from 11 coal-fired power plants located in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee that were allegedly impacting North Carolina constituted a public nuisance. Continue reading
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Limits to CERCLA’S Owner/Operator Liability
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has ruled that a party cannot be liable under CERCLA as an “owner/operator” for the remediation of impacted soil and water if the impacted soil and water is not located within the party’s facility, and is entirely outside of the property limits of the… Continue reading
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Mine Safety & OSHA Reform Bill Approved by House Committee
On July 21, 2010, the Education and Labor Committee for the House of Representatives voted 30-17 to send to the full House the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663). The bill incorporates portions of the previously introduced Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067, S. 1580) and addresses safety in… Continue reading
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Trafigura Fined $1.3M Over International Toxic Waste Dumping
The Dutch Supreme Court fined Trafigura Beheer, one of the world’s largest companies trading commodities, $1.3M for delivering hazardous waste to Amsterdam while concealing the true nature of the wastes and exporting the wastes to Cote D’Ivoire for disposal. Continue reading
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NRDC Report Says Climate Change Will Cause U.S. Water Shortages
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has joined other environmental organizations, government authorities and industry groups in confirming that climate change factors will result in serious water shortages in the United States. Continue reading
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U.S. Issues New Deepwater Drilling Suspension
On July 12, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Ken Salazar, issued a decision memorandum directing a new suspension of certain offshore drilling and permitting activity in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific regions. Continue reading
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board Investigating Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Blowout
By Gabrielle Sigel On June 25, 2010, Congress confirmed the appointments to the two last vacant positions on the U.S. Chemical Safety Board ("CSB"): Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso, as CSB Chairman; and Mark Griffon, as CSB Member. On June 18, 2010, the CSB also informed Congressmen Waxman and Stupak, of the House Committee on Energy… Continue reading
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Additional Greenhouse Gas Reporting Requirements Imposed
Supplementing the greenhouse gas (“GHG”) reporting regulations issued in October 2009, on June 28, 2010 U.S. EPA imposed annual reporting requirements on four additional GHG sources”: underground coal mines; industrial water treatment systems; industrial waste landfills; and magnesium production facilities. Continue reading