Author: Rosa D. Forrester

Litigation / New Jersey
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New Jersey Settles MTBE Pollution Case for Almost $200 Million

A pollution lawsuit initially filed against three major oil companies is settling for almost $200 million, with additional parties still negotiating. In 2007, the state of New Jersey sued a number of oil companies in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over their usage of MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). MTBE was a synthetic chemical added to gasoline to help fuel burn more completely and reduce tailpipe emissions from vehicles. MTBE was approved for use in gasoline by the EPA in …

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EPA / New Jersey
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Up the Creek: The EPA Invites Public Comment Regarding Cleanup to NJ Superfund Site

The U.S. EPA is seeking public comment now on its proposed cleanup plan for the Berry’s Creek Study Area — a Superfund site located in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Berry’s Creek Study Area includes a 6.5 mile tributary of the Hacksensack River and about 12 miles of additional wetlands and industrial properties within the watershed. The creek originates near Teterboro Airport, runs through various sections of towns that are close to where Giants Stadium used to stand in the Meadowlands, and the fabled resting place …

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New Jersey
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Tree for All: NJ Forest Department Distributes Free Trees to Residents

We thought it would be a breath of fresh air to report this week on a positive development to the local environment, in this instance, happening right here in my home state of New Jersey. In recent years, New Jersey has been hit with more natural disasters than ever before, resulting in a serious reduction in the amount of healthy trees in the state. The Forest Department has been pining for that to change, so it has instituted a free tree sapling program for residents …

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California / Clean Water Act / Litigation
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Tijuana Blues: Mexican Wastewater Contaminates SoCal Coast, According to New Lawsuit

SoCal surfer dudes were in for a surprise when a serious funk rolled in with the tides in Imperial Beach and Chula Vista, California. A new lawsuit has been filed against the International Boundary & Water Commission – United States Section (IBWC or the Commission) and Veolia Water North America West for repeatedly failing to address “devastating pollution discharges” from the Tijuana River, which had been used as a dump for decades.

In the last three years alone, severely polluted waters have caused officials in …

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Michigan / Water Contamination
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Michigan County: Worst PFAS Contamination in the Country to Date

This blog post follows our regular postings on one the key emerging unregulated contaminants, PFASs. Following New York’s lead, Michigan’s now considering blood tests for the contaminant in individuals located in what’s considered the country’s most serious PFAS contamination zone.

What’s PFAS? A quick recap — per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of human-made toxic chemicals. PFASs were used to make some of the most common consumer products, including Gore-Tex clothing, Teflon cookware, Scotchgard stain-repellant for carpets or furniture fabric, and were …

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New York / PFOA / Water Contamination
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PFAS Update — Hudson Valley City Authorizes its City Council to Commence Suit Involving PFOS Contamination to Drinking Water Supply

The City of Newburgh, New York has had enough. After the city’s water supply was shut down following contamination by perfluorooctane sulfonate, a toxic chemical known as PFOS, residents have authorized its city council to commence a lawsuit against the alleged contaminator, a nearby Air National Guard Base.

PFOS, and the related chemical PFOA (both of which are part of the class of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFASs) was first discovered in Newburgh’s water supply in mid-2016. Washington Lake, Newburgh’s main drinking water …

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Coal Ash
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Pain in the Ash: Citizens in Virginia and North Carolina Seek Protection from Hazardous Coal Ash Waste

Power companies in North Carolina and Virginia are currently battling with their neighbors over the best method to store coal ash waste.

Coal ash, also referred to as coal combustion residuals, is the resulting waste following the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants. The ash is often disposed of in surface impoundments, landfills, and nearby waterways. When improperly disposed of, coal ash is hazardous to the surrounding environment, as it contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic. In the case of a coal ash …

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Wastewater
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Does this Water Taste … Nuclear to You? Florida Power Company Granted Permission to Store Wastewater from Proposed Nuclear Reactors Beneath Miami’s Drinking Water Aquifers

After a months-long battle, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently granted Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) application to: (1) build two new nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point Generating Station; (2) store wastewater from the proposed nuclear reactors under Miami’s drinking water aquifers; and (3) eventually store nuclear waste near the same site. This application was granted despite previous citations issued to FPL for its leaks of saltwater into drinking water and wastewater into Biscayne Bay that were from its other operations.

In its …

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California / Groundwater Monitoring
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California’s Groundwater Protection Plans Seek to Protect and Preserve the State’s Most Scarce Resource

This past winter, California finally experienced the rain it had been desperately awaiting for several years. The state Department of Water Resources is tracking more than 22 million acre-feet of water in its reservoirs, hoping that it will replenish the losses sustained from 2012 onward when a drought began ravaging the state. While California residents must be excited at the prospect of longer showers, state water officials are researching how to best make the bounty last.

California precipitation is unpredictable, and the state is generally …

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Clean Air Act / Texas
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Regulated Industry Beware: Citizen Suit Under Clean Air Act Results in Largest Ever Penalty

In late April 2017, ExxonMobil was ordered to pay almost $20 million in penalties for violations of the Clean Air Act in the Houston area. The oil giant was sued in 2010 by environmental groups The Sierra Club and Environment Texas, which alleged that the corporation emitted levels of hazardous contaminants in excess of what is permitted by federal and state law. U.S. District Judge David Hittner stated in his decision that Exxon financially benefited to the tune of $14 million from delaying implementation of …

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