Owners Seek Damages for Bad Well Water

CWA Permit Upheld for Mine Company

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

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 would not damage water quality or violate water quality standards. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit [...]

Court Can’t Review Beach Protection Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

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 widen portions of the Cape Fear River navigation channel, and the 4th Circuit affirms dismissal of the suit. The Village of Bald [...]

Past, Former Owners Share CERCLA Costs

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

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 holds both the current and former owners responsible for costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The westernmost 34 acres of the [...]

Coal ash settlement believed to be first of its kind in Virginia – $200,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 1, 2013
Tags: Chesapeake Circuit Court, Environmental

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 property line. Here, the defendants spread coal ash up to six feet onto the plaintiff’s property. Coal ash is the by-product of burning [...]

Agency Pesticide Opinion ‘Arbitrary,’ Court Says

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 26, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

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 4th Circuit reverses summary judgment for the Fisheries Service and vacates its opinion concluding certain pesticides would jeopardize the viability of Pacific salmonids and their [...]

Contamination Claim Advances Against Coal Company

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 14, 2013
Tags: Environmental, Judge James P. Jones, U.S. District Court - Western District

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 in which plaintiffs claim to be owners of other coal reserves and gas, including coal bed methane. Defendant’s Rule 12(b)(6) argument depends in part [...]

Environmentalists May File CWA Suit Against ‘Gob Piles’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 4, 2013
Tags: Environmental, Judge James P. Jones, U.S. District Court - Western District

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 the CWA allows citizen enforcement suits. Gob piles are piles of waste composed of coal mixed with mining by-products. They usually [...]

EPA Can’t Regulate Stormwater Load

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: Environmental, Judge Liam O'Grady, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

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 daily load (TMDL) for the flow of stormwater, a nonpollutant, into the creek, and the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants the [...]

Agency Decision on Dam Upheld Under NEPA

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 19, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental, Floyd County Circuit Court

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 one of five dams, a decision challenged by seven owners who say their land will be adversely affected by this decision; the NRCS has complied [...]