Source: http://www.npr.org, February 19, 2015 It’s a painful time to be in the oil business. With the price of crude oil about half what it was six months ago, companies large and small are being pressured to cut costs. On the front lines are oil services companies that do everything from drilling to providing electrical […]

Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com, February 20, 2015 By: Patrick Rucker Federal investigators will examine whether pressurized gas played a role in the massive blast that followed the derailment of a train carrying crude oil through West Virginia this week, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Thursday. Questioning the possible role of gas vapors in the West Virginia […]

Source: http://www.wtvy.com, February 19, 2015 What is a construction defect? A house is generally a homeowners’ single most valuable financial investment and one of the most important emotional investments. To them it is more than bricks and mortar; it is the place where they live, rest, and raise their families. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, February 18, 2015 By: Gregory D. Hagen, Edward P. Garson , John R. Clifford and Ian A. Stewart, Wilson Elser On January 22, 2015, the Fourth District Court of Appeals issued for publication its decision in McMillin Companies LLC v. American Safety Indemnity Company, 4th Dist. Div. 1, D063586. The case is significant […]

Source: http://www.globest.com, February 2, 2015 By: John Insall As the economy continued to pick up steam in 2014, merger and acquisition rates rose strongly.  Forbes went as far as to label activity in the 2014 M&A market a “frenzy”!  These take-over deals involve extensive legal and financial due diligence, but there are significant environmental liability […]

Source: http://www.ctlawtribune.com, February 16, 2015 By: Christina M. Lopez Parties often haggle over what substances are considered pollutants Insurers have had no problem arguing that almost anything can be a pollutant when seeking to disclaim coverage on the basis of the “absolute pollution exclusion” contained in general liability policies. However, they do not take such […]

Source: http://www.chicoer.com, February 17, 2015 By: Ian Bauer A San Francisco law firm’s prior class-action lawsuit over odors allegedly emanating from the Newby Island Landfill and Resource Recovery Park on the Milpitas-San Jose border has stalled, after a judge ruled the existing suit was legally insufficient as presented to the court. In 2012, the Evans […]

Source: http://www.yakimaherald.com, February 18, 2015 By: Ross Courtney Facing more potentially negative federal court rulings, three Lower Yakima Valley dairy owners have agreed to line their manure lagoons, a costly safeguard against groundwater contamination that environmentalists have sought for years. The dairies also have begun talking about settling the pending federal court case with the […]

Source: http://www.environmentalleader.com, February 18, 2015 Environmental risks facing new construction or renovation of healthcare facilities can jeopardize patient health and lead to significant financial losses, according to an advisory published by ACE Group. Regulatory changes, increasing competitive pressures and rapid technological advances are transforming the construction of medical facilities, the advisory says. This also opens […]

Source: http://www.claimsjournal.com, February 17, 2015 By: Nancy Moran A CSX Corp. train carrying Bakken oil from North Dakota derailed and ignited in West Virginia, forcing some residents to flee their homes in frigid weather while cutting power and threatening drinking water. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for Kanawha and Fayette counties […]

Read here about concerns over water and air quality resulting from pig farms.

Source: Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2015 Posted on: http://fpn.advisen.com Hoping to better understand the health effects of oil fracking, the state in 2013 ordered oil companies to test the chemical-laden waste water extracted from wells. Data culled from the first year of those tests found significant concentrations of the human carcinogen benzene in this […]