ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CASES

• Marsh v. Rosenbloom
• Consol. Cos. Inc. v. Union Pac. R.R. Co.
• Access Fund v. US Dep't of Agric.
• Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Winter
• Friends of Lagoon Valley v. Vacaville

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, August 28, 2007
Marsh v. Rosenbloom, No. 05-0514, 05-0702, 05-0706, 05-0708
Orders dismissing plaintiff state's claims against the dissolved corporation defendant's shareholder-distributees and denying the corporation defendant's trustees' motion to dismiss the CERCLA claims against defendant are affirmed as to the dismissal of claims against the shareholder-distributees. However, the judgment granted to plaintiff on its CERCLA claims against defendant is reversed as the district court erred in holding that CERCLA preempted Delaware's limits on defendant's capacity to be sued. Read more...

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, August 28, 2007
Consol. Cos. Inc. v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., No. 06-30570
In an action brought by a property owner against a railroad company arising from alleged contamination of the property by railroad operations, an interlocutory judgment in favor of plaintiff following a bench trial is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff had standing to bring claims implicating the site at issue in its entirety; and 2) the district court did not err in defining the term "facility" for purposes of the claims brought by plaintiff under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) and state environmental law. Read more...

U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, August 27, 2007
Access Fund v. US Dep't of Agric., No. 05-15585
In a constitutional and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenge brought by a rock climbing advocacy group to the Forest Service's ban imposed on rock climbing at a particular location, a ruling upholding the Forest Service's decision is affirmed where: 1) the decision clearly had a secular purpose and had no impermissible religious motivation, and the Establishment Clause does not bar the government from protecting a historically and culturally important site simply because the site's importance derives at least in part from its sacredness to certain groups; and 2) the Forest Service's decision was not arbitrary or capricious for APA purposes. Read more...

U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, August 31, 2007
Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Winter, No. 07-56157
In an action brought by environmental advocacy organizations involving Navy training using sonar harmful to the environment, particularly whales, the Navy's emergency motion to stay a preliminary injunction entered by a district court pending appeal is granted as the injunction did not have any explanation as to why it absolutely prohibited the Navy's use of medium frequency active sonar in its training program, rather than tailoring the injunction with mitigation measures that had been approved in prior litigation. Read more...

California Appellate Districts, August 28, 2007
Friends of Lagoon Valley v. Vacaville, No. A113236
In challenge to approval of a project to develop a portion of Vacaville known as the Lower Lagoon Valley, denial of petition for writ of mandate is affirmed where defendant city did not abuse its discretion in approving the project and did not violate the law by awarding real parties a density bonus of 40.5 percent. Read more...