March 2013
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Insurer Unable To Step Into CERCLA Shoes Of Insured
A recent Ninth Circuit decision limited the ability of an insurer to seek CERCLA contribution and/or cost recovery from potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”). In Chubb Custom Insurance Company v. Space Systems/Loral et al., Chubb issued a PPL policy for a site in Palo Alto, California. Chubb’s insured sought recovery from Chubb for site remediation costs… Continue reading
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Pacific Ocean—Next CERCLA NPL Site?
The Center of Biological Diversity (“CBD”) has filed a petition with U.S. EPA seeking to add the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and waters of the Pacific Ocean within the United States’ jurisdiction to CERCLA’s National Priorities List (“NPL”). In its petition, CBD argues that the large mass of plastic debris known as the “Pacific Garbage Patch”… Continue reading
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EPA Is Seeking Public Comments On Revised Waste Analysis Guidance
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is seeking public comments on a revision to “Waste Analysis at Facilities That Generate, Treat, Store, and Dispose of Hazardous Wastes: A Guidance Manual.” The guidance manual was last updated in 1994. The current version of the guidance manual (dated January 2013) is available here. Continue reading
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New Desalination Technology Offers Hope For Cheap, Clean Water
Lockheed Martin announced this week that it has found a way to greatly reduce the amount of energy required to remove salt from seawater. This new discovery has the potential to make it vastly cheaper to produce clean water at a time when water scarcity is emerging as a global security issue. Continue reading
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Beyond H2O: Global Water Security
The National Intelligence Council has conducted an intelligence community-wide assessment of water risks of states strategically important to the U.S. Looking out to 2040, they examined three global drivers for water scarcity: 1) population growth; 2) economic development; and, 3) climate change. In the near term, economic development and population growth are bigger drivers than… Continue reading
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World Resources Institute: Aqueduct Maps Water Risks
The World Resources Institute (WRI) believes that water scarcity is one of the defining issues of the 21st century. In its Global Risks 2013 report, the World Economic Forum identified water supply crises as one of the highest impact and most likely risks facing the planet. According to the report, “Two risks appear in the… Continue reading
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U.S. Water Stress Disputes
Evidence of water scarcity challenges is ever present and often found in national, state and local news coverage including these 2013 stories briefly summarized below: Continue reading
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Great Lakes Advisory Board Named
EPA has named the membership of the first advisory board to support implementation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – an aggressive action plan through 2014 addressing five urgent issues: cleaning up toxics and areas of concern; combating invasive species; promoting near shore health; restoring wetlands; and, tracking progress working with strategic partners. Continue reading
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Water Scarcity Creates Opportunities For Water Services Industry
According to a recent report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research titled “A Blue Revolution – Global Water,” some companies in the water services industry are in the strongest position to benefit from the global dynamics of water supply and demand. The global water services industry is set to double to $1 trillion… Continue reading
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World Water Day—March 22nd—Water Scarcity Focus This Week
In celebration of World Water Day next Friday, March 22nd, the Corporate Environmental Lawyer blog will feature a series of blogs this week focused on water scarcity and water related topics including a review of the latest water scarcity studies, global water security, U. S. water rights issues and conflicts ongoing now, impacts of these… Continue reading