12 results for 'cat:"Government" AND cat:"Water"'.
J. Devine finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled against a private developer in a contract case it filed against the City of San Antonio water system. Based on a contract it formed with the city, the developer alleged that the city was obligated to reserve sewer capacity for a housing development project. The court of appeals granted the city's motion to dismiss the case, citing governmental immunity, and finding that the city had no contractual right to reserve the capacity. However, the contract entered into by the developer and the city waived the city's immunity because it effectively outlined the terms of the project, forming an agreement between the parties. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Devine, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-0481, Categories: government, water, Immunity
J. Hiraoka finds an environmental court properly determined that the conservation group was not entitled to a contested case hearing over the renewal of permits to divert water from a Maui river. The group did not have a constitutionally protected property interest in the permits based on rights to a clean and healthful environment. The permits do comply with environmental regulations and governmental interest in the providing water to its communities overweighs the need for a contested case hearing. However, when the permits were continued, the environmental court should not have modified the conditions to limit stream diversions as the board should have authority over modifications. Affirmed.
Court: Hawai'i Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hiraoka, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: CAAP-22-516, Categories: Environment, government, water
J. Busby finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled against San Jacinto River Authority, dismissing its claims against municipalities for failing to pay dues under water contracts. The court of appeals dismissed the river authority's claims against the municipalities, finding they had governmental immunity. While the municipalities cannot be forced to mediate the case as asserted by the river authority, the water contracts do waive their governmental immunity. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Busby, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-0649, Categories: government, water, Immunity
J. Kobayashi partially grants summary judgment to the U.S. Navy in for part of negligence claims against it by military families who became sick after jet fuel leaked into the water system. The families did not provide sufficient causation evidence for their special damages claim related to medical monitoring and testing for the risk of future health effects. However, summary judgment is denied for claims of fear of future injury.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, water
J. Kobayashi partially excludes reports and testimony from a doctor and toxicology expert who assessed military families who are bringing claims against the U.S. Navy for jet fuel water contamination. The doctor’s opinions on the contamination causing the families’ short term medical issues are admissible as long as they do not rely on studies done exclusively on animals. The doctor cannot testify as to the long term effects, however, as he does not establish specific causation to the jet fuel.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, government, water
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J. Kobayashi partially excludes reports and testimony from three psychologists who assessed military families who are bringing claims against the U.S. Navy for jet fuel water contamination. Testimony from two of the doctors are admissible, as they did conduct full interviews of their patients, including the minors. Information gathered from the parents about their children is admissible as first-hand knowledge when minors are involved is not required. A third doctor is not a physician or military medicine expert so portions of his testimony are excluded, but his testimony on the families' trauma is admissible.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, government, water
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses part of a group of military families’ claims of negligence against the government for their mishandling of the Red Hill petroleum fuel leak. The part of the families’ claims accusing the Navy of failing to warn fall under a misrepresentation exception and is therefore barred. Claims about the Navy’s failure to remediate and failure to test the families’ homes also do not state factual evidence, though those claims may be amended.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv457, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, water, Negligence
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses failure-to-warn claims in a suit brought by military families who became sick after drinking water contaminated by jet fuel leaking from the Navy’s Red Hill storage facility. The lack of a water advisory after the fact constituted misrepresentation under the Federal Tort Claims Act, barring those claims. The failure-to-warn element of the families’ negligence claim survives since, under Hawaii law, a property owner has a duty to warn of any potential hazards to their lessees.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, Tort, water
J. Oliver grants the black homeowners' motion for class certification, ruling that while there are not specific numbers in the water shutoff class, the numbers provided for the lien class allow the court to make common sense assumptions about its size, which meets numerosity requirements. Additionally, all of the claims center on one of three actions - the filing of a lien by the city, the shutoff of water service or excessively high billing - and, therefore, commonality requirements are satisfied.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv2911, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: government, water, Class Action
J. Palafox withdraws this court’s previous opinion issued on March 8, 2023, and substitutes it for one finding the lower court did not err in granting summary judgment to a groundwater district and local official in a water dispute. An interested investment company alleged it had wrongfully been denied party status in a third party’s water application renewal process, but the investment company could neither show how it exhausted administrative remedies nor how it can overcome governmental immunity. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Palafox, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 08-21-00200-CV, Categories: government, water, Immunity
J. Lehrmann finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in favor of an irrigation district, dismissing a condemnation suit brought by a water improvement district. The dispute between the governmental entities, located in Hidalgo County, began when the improvement district sought to extend a pipeline through a canal managed by the irrigation district. After the improvement district failed a suit to condemn the land for their project, the irrigation district filed a plea to the jurisdiction, asserting it was immune from suit. While governmental immunity may apply in cases similar to this, it does not in this case because the project is intended to benefit both entities involved. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Lehrmann, Filed On: May 19, 2023, Case #: 21-0507, Categories: government, water, Immunity