The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”) has been a prodigious generator of litigation for decades. First, the government sought to compel potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) to clean up contaminated sites. Then, those PRPs who were found liable or who settled with the government sought contribution from other PRPs. Now, even after these […]

Source: https://www.popsci.com, April 4, 2019 By: Alex Schwartz The effects of agricultural practices on human health shouldn’t be overlooked. Lend your “ears” to this: A new study published this week in Nature found that America’s corn belt could contribute to thousands of air pollution deaths a year. Scientists at the University of Minnesota attributed around 4,300 premature American deaths […]

Source: https://www.dairyherd.com, November 15, 2017 By: Tiffany Dowell Lashment When a dairy finds itself a defendant in a lawsuit alleging groundwater contamination due to manure storage policies and application practices, likely one of the first calls made is to their insurance company. One dairy in Washington did just that, only to be told their insurer […]

Source: http://www.constructionrisk.com, August 2017 By: Kent Holland Where lead-based paint was ingested by a tenant’s child, the tenant sued her landlord for injuries allegedly sustained by the child. The landlord tendered the claim to its commercial general liability (CGL) insurer who, instead of defending the case, filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that […]

Source: http://greatlakesecho.org, August 14, 2015 By: Eric Freedman Neighbors of a now-defunct dairy operation in northwestern Minnesota have failed for a second time to hold the farm’s insurers responsible for pollution-related problems from manure lagoons on the property. A unanimous state Court of Appeals panel ruled that insurance policies for the former farm near Thief […]

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

Source: http://www.dairyherd.com, January 15, 2015 By: Texas Agriculture Law Blog Late last year, a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision regarding manure gained the attention of agricultural law attorneys across the country, according to Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, assistant professor and Extension specialist specializing in agricultural law with Texas A&M Agrilife Extension. In that case, Wilson Mutual Insurance […]

Source: http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com, January 5, 2015 The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reversed an appeals court ruling that earlier determined that a Washington County farm couple was not responsible for compensating their neighbors out of pocket for well contamination expenses caused by manure run-off. According to court records, the Department of Natural Resources notified Robert and Jane […]

Source: The Environmental Magazine, March 1, 2013 By: Maggie Wolf Peterson With Arsenic Concerns, Rice Loses Its Celebrated Status Rice is known by nutritionists as a “first food.” Easily digested and bland, it is often the first solid food a baby receives. Prior to that, babies may be exposed to rice starch and brown rice […]

Read here about a Missouri lawsuit that claims tannery sludge causes tumors.

Source: http://www.midwestadvocates.org, July 19, 2006 Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager announced today that her office has both filed and settled an environmental lawsuit in Dodge County Circuit Court against Nehls Brothers Farms, Ltd. Under the settlement, Nehls Brothers agrees to the following: Nehls Brothers will pay over $42,000 to reimburse three near-by well owners for their […]

Read here about an egg producer recently fined nearly $2 million by the EPA.