8 results for 'cat:"Environment" AND cat:"Damages"'.
J. Robinson finds that the district court improperly dismissed recovery claims brought by a trust established to continue environmental remediation at former General Motors plants after the automaker went into bankruptcy in 2009. A consent decree governing contaminant cleanup in a creek near GM's Syracuse plant did not foreclose attempts at recovery from dozens of other companies for possible contributory damage in the wider watershed, as the agreement did not address trust liability there. Meanwhile, the request seeking reassignment to a different judge on remand should be rejected.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 22-1589-cv, Categories: environment, damages
J. Joseph grants a request for a discovery order by multiple corporations being sued by 259 litigants for personal injuries and property damages, arising from toxic leaks at a now-closed pipe valve manufacturing facility in central Louisiana. Entry of a so-called “Lone Pine Order,” a discovery tool requiring litigants to meet an evidentiary threshold, will simplify complex issues, streamline costs, and help prepare for a consolidated, “Phase I” trial on common facts set for May 2024. District courts in the Fifth Circuit routinely enter Lone Pine orders in mass tort cases to facilitate case management and provide structure to the discovery process.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv1346, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: environment, damages, Discovery
J. Lioi grants, in part, the government's motion to dismiss, ruling the property owner cannot seek to recover costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act associated with its discovery of former owners that may have contaminated the site because there is no evidence these discoveries aided the cleanup of the site in any way.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Lioi, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv1558, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: environment, damages
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J. Doughty denies summary judgment to an insurance company for an oil and gas exploration company, finding that the insurer has not demonstrated that the exclusions it cites in its commercial liability policy actually applies to the facts of the property owner’s land contamination case. Therefore, because an issue of material fact exists, summary judgment is denied.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv1070, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: environment, Property, damages
J. Morgan grants requests by neighbors of a parish landfill for disclosure of the private operators’ redacted information about other dumps they operated. The litigants say the landfill operator’s financial and operational information will provide them with evidence of the companies’ knowledge of environmental risks associated with accepting certain types of waste. The landfill operators unsuccessfully argued disclosure of their financial information and operations at other dump sites would have the unfair effect of “inflaming” the jury. The neighbors’ request for the information is proper.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Morga, Filed On: May 26, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv7889, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: environment, damages, Discovery
J. Summerhays grants remand to the joint owners of a 35-acre tract in rural Church Point, Louisiana, transferring to state court their environmental property damage suit against Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), Chevron-owned companies and Hess Corp. The corporations unsuccessfully argued for federal jurisdiction on grounds that ARCO, a Texas citizen, was improperly added to the suit by the property owners, a Louisiana woman and a Texas corporation based in Louisiana. The landowners prevailed by showing that the terms of a 1953 operating agreement “explicitly” provide that the sued companies, including ARCO, are proportionately liable for damages to related to their oil and gas operations. The landowners have stated “a viable claim against ARCO, even if they do not ultimately prevail.”
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv6190, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: environment, damages, Jurisdiction