Source: http://www.nj.com, September 26, 2012 By: MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-Ledger State environmental officials can’t go after businesses for contaminating the ground unless they have ironclad proof — and not circumstantial evidence — that the firms caused the damage, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The decision drew instant praise from business owners who say they need […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 27, 2012 By: Hunton & Williams LLP In Travelers Indemnity Company v. MTS Transport, LLC, No. 11-01567, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127847 (W.D. Pa. Sept. 7, 2012), a federal court held that a pollution exclusion in an excess liability insurance policy was ambiguous and, therefore, did not bar a defense for claims […]

Source: http://blog.al.com, September 29, 2012 By: Joseph D. Bryant, The Birmingham News Federal environmental officials Monday are expected to make an announcement on action involving Walter Coke, a major industry in northern Birmingham. While details are not yet available, a flier being distributed in the community invites residents to attend a meeting Monday evening at […]

  Source: Dominion Post (Morgantown, WV), September 30, 2012 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Two Wetzel County families suing Chesapeake Appalachia in federal district court for trespass regarding gas wells on their land have lost their cases and appealed them to the next level. Martin and Lisa Whiteman, of Silver Hill, and Dewey and Gay Teel, of […]

Source: Capital (Annapolis, MD), September 30, 2012 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com With the court date fast approaching in the federal lawsuit involving the Waterkeeper Alliance, Perdue Farms and Hudson Farm, direct participants in the case aren’t talking publicly. George Ritchie, the Baltimore-based attorney for Kristin and Alan Hudson, declined to talk on the record. He also […]

Source: http://www.natlawreview.com, September 28, 2012 By: H. Hamilton Hackney III, Greenberg Traurig, LLP A recent enforcement case in USEPA Region I highlights the continuing regulatory risks posed to commercial property owners by building materials containing polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs). From the 1950s into the 1970s, PCBs were used as plasticizers and flame retardants in caulking around […]

  Read this article by Spencer Levin of XL Group regarding the potential pollution pitfalls in commercial general liability.

Source: http://wyofile.com, September 2012 By: Gregory Nickerson A collaborative investigation spearheaded by the Investigative News Network revealed that abandoned and polluted properties — known as “brownfields” — continue to mar communities across the United States. INN and their partner organizations evaluate the slow progress being made in the cleanup of brownfields nationwide. WyoFile contributor Gregory […]

Source: http://ecmpostreview.com, September 26, 2012 By: Derrick Knutson The North Branch SnoDrifters club is planning to buy the old Branch City Hall property from North Branch, but that purchase is contingent upon an inspection for possible pollutants. Scott Gillette, the president of the SnoDrifters, said he was informed the site was a former dump, an […]

Source: Muskogee Phoenix (OK), September 27, 2012 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com A lawsuit alleging the city and two local companies negligently disposed of treated sewer sludge appears to be headed for trial next month. The lawsuit was filed by three families who own property near a site where biosolids from Muskogee’s wastewater treatment plant had been […]

Read here about a Louisiana chemical terminal that is being fined for not alerting authorities quickly enough about chemical releases.

Read here about a dairy farm in Vermont that is being sued for violating pollution laws.