Although West Virginia has not promulgated or submitted required pollutant limits for its “biologically impaired” waterways, this failure doesn’t yet amount to a constructive submission of “no limits,” which would trigger EPA duties under the Clean Water Act. Background West ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Environmental Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Coles, Red, and Minor Terry were held in contempt of court for interfering with the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s use of easements of which it had been granted immediate possession. Red and Minor were given approximately one day to come down ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Eminent Domain Environmental Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

On an issue of first impression in this circuit, plaintiffs in citizen suits under the Clean Water Act must allege a “direct hydrological connection” between ground water and navigable waters in order to state a claim for a discharge of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Environmental Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

High-demand customers can purchase renewable energy from competitive service providers under a statutory framework for “individual retail customers.” Background This appeal presents the question whether certain large electricity consumers can purchase electricity from any licensed supplier of energy in the ...

Tagged with: Administrative Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons Environmental Regulated Industries Supreme Court of Virginia Utilities

This court’s order of Jan. 31 granting Mountain Valley Pipeline immediate possession to numerous easements in the construction pathway of a FERC-approved pipeline was conditioned on its first presenting sufficient additional evidence that satisfies the constitutional requirements of eminent domain. ...

Tagged with: Administrative Constitutional Eminent Domain Environmental Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Real Property U.S. District Court - Western District

The district court denied motions to dismiss in two related cases involving the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and other environmental groups filed a citizen suit against Red River Coal ...

Tagged with: Environmental Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

Two patrons, members of a local Cherokee tribe, who visited defendants’ Cherokee Bear Zoo had standing to sue the zoo and its owners under the Endangered Species Act for the zoo’s “taking” of its grizzly bears by housing the bears ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Environmental Judge Henry F. Floyd

A Harrisonburg U.S. District Court approves a $42 million proposed Consent Decree between the federal and state governments and DuPont over damage to natural resources arising from DuPont’s twenty-year use of mercury in the manufacture of acetate fibers at its ...

Tagged with: Environmental Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

A district court did not have jurisdiction to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s compliance with the Clean Air Act’s Section 321(a) directive to continuously evaluate the potential employment impact of CAA administration and enforcement, in this suit filed by a ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Environmental Judge Henry F. Floyd

In this suit filed by Dixon Lumber Company against Austinville Limestone Company, parties who own adjacent plots of land in Wythe County, the Roanoke U.S. District Court says the lumber company cannot hold the limestone company liable under CERCLA for ...

Tagged with: Environmental Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District