Agency Decision on Dam Upheld Under NEPA
The 4th Circuit upholds a decision by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to eliminate from its 35-year-old project for preservation of the Lost River Subwatershed its plan to construct...
View ArticleEPA Can’t Regulate Stormwater Load
The Clean Water Act does not authorize the EPA to regulate the level a pollutant in Accotink Creek, a 25-mile long tributary of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, by establishing a total maximum...
View ArticleEnvironmentalists May File CWA Suit Against ‘Gob Piles’
A Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court says plaintiff environmental group has stated a claim under the Clean Water Act for redress against a mining operator for discharges from coal mine “gob piles,” as...
View ArticleContamination Claim Advances Against Coal Company
An Abingdon U.S. District Court will not dismiss plaintiffs’ suit seeking damages and injunctive relief against a coal company for placing contaminated water in an inactive mine located on real estate...
View ArticleAgency Pesticide Opinion ‘Arbitrary,’ Court Says
A “biological opinion” issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service to the Environmental Protection Agency is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706, and the...
View ArticleCoal ash settlement believed to be first of its kind in Virginia – $200,000...
Defendant owned a commercial property adjacent to the plaintiff’s business in Chesapeake. As part of the construction of a new motel, the defendant dumped toxic coal ash along both sides of the...
View ArticlePast, Former Owners Share CERCLA Costs
In these appeals arising from disputes over liability for hazardous substance cleanup at a former fertilizer manufacturing site in Charleston, S.C., the 4th Circuit affirms a trial court order that...
View ArticleCourt Can’t Review Beach Protection Claim
A district court did not err in dismissing a North Carolina coastal town’s suit seeking to enforce the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ alleged commitments to protect adjacent beaches during a project to...
View ArticleCWA Permit Upheld for Mine Company
The 4th Circuit affirms issuance of a water quality permit under the Clean Water Act to Highland Mining Company, on the basis that a proposed surface coal mine adjacent to a stream in Logan County...
View ArticleNo Standing for Neighbors & Activists Against Gravel Mine
An environmental group and owners of neighboring property do not have standing to challenge the Caroline County Board of Supervisors’ issuance of a special exception permit to allow a sand and gravel...
View ArticleCERCLA Discovery Rule Preempts Statute of Repose
North Carolina landowners who discovered their well water has concentrated levels of carcinogens may sue defendant CTS Corporation in a nuisance action; the 4th Circuit says the discovery rule of the...
View ArticleNo ‘Permit Shield’ Defense for Coal Mine
Although defendant coal mining company’s discharge permit says nothing about selenium, that omission does not allow the company to invoke the “permit shield” defense to this suit alleging illegal...
View ArticleDeveloper Loses Wetlands Challenge
On remand of a Chesapeake developer’s challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers’ exercise of jurisdiction over certain wetlands in the developer’s plan for a 658-acre mixed use project in southeast...
View ArticleNo Stay in ‘Permit Shield’ Appeal
A Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court denies defendant coal mining company’s motion for a partial stay pending appeal of this court’s earlier decision rejecting the company’s invocation of a “permit...
View ArticleUpcoming term could bring new high court focus on Clean Air Act
Two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenge an Environmental Protection Agency rule designed to reduce the amount of power plant air pollutants that drift across state lines may be the first...
View ArticleCourt grants appeal in climate case with FOIA issues
A battle over disclosure of climate research documents could produce new law on the public’s right to access government records in Virginia. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear three...
View ArticleRichmond law firm fights charges in oil spill report
Richmond’s BrownGreer PLC – a law firm that provides services to handle mass claims – is sharply disputing criticism of its work as part of the awarding of compensation to victims of the 2010 Deepwater...
View ArticleWetlands Have ‘Significant Nexus,’ Court Says
On remand from the 4th Circuit, the Norfolk U.S. District Court says evaluating the full administrative record, including plaintiff Precon Development Corporation’s experts’ factual findings and...
View ArticleNo TRO for Challenge to Bald Eagle Removal
In this action under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other environmental laws, a Norfolk U.S. District Court denies plaintiff wildlife preservation group’s request for an injunction...
View ArticleCourt Upholds Local Landfill Ordinance
The 4th Circuit upholds a local ordinance that prohibits disposal of waste generated in Horry County, S.C., at any site other than a designated publicly owned landfill, rejecting appellant disposal...
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