We wanted to take some time to wish all of our subscribers and their families a happy holiday season and all the best in the new year. 2023 has been a busy, active year in the world of environmental law and we appreciate you dropping by our site on a regular basis for emerging issues and up-to-date information. Environmental Law Monitor will return next week with new posts. Once again, happy holidays!…
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Lithium and Minerals Alert: To Mine or Not to Mine? The Perfect Paradox
In March, ELM posted on the burgeoning environmental conflict over plans to construct an open-pit lithium mine in Thacker Pass, Nevada — plans triggered by what has become a momentous shift away from an emissions-intensive, fossil-fuel based economy, to one powered by renewables. See: “Ranchers, Environmentalists, and Indigenous Communities Lock Arms Against Homegrown Lithium.”
Precipitated by the potential for domestically sourced minerals to foster homegrown energy and in turn breed income, twenty-first century prospectors have been flocking to the nation’s once abandoned mineral …
Continue ReadingHappy New Year!
As the sun sets on 2021, we wanted to take some time to wish all of our subscribers and their families a happy new year. The world of environmental law continues to evolve and we appreciate you dropping by this blog on a regular basis for emerging issues and up-to-date information. Environmental Law Monitor will return next week with new posts. Once again, happy new year! …
Continue ReadingNew ASTM Standard Released for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
For nearly two years, a task force comprised of various environmental professionals has been working on revisions to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I) Standard E1527-13, which is used by prospective purchasers in real estate acquisitions in order to satisfy the All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Purchasers must meet the AAI requirements in order to establish the innocent landowner, contiguous property owner, or bona fide …
Continue ReadingHappy Holidays!
We wanted to take some time to wish all of our subscribers and their families a happy holiday season and all the best in the new year. 2020 has been a busy, active year in the world of environmental law and we appreciate you dropping by our site on a regular basis for emerging issues and up-to-date information. Environmental Law Monitor will return next week with new posts. Once again, happy holidays!…
Continue ReadingAnnual Judicial Hellholes Report Demonstrates Continuing Impact on Environmental and Toxic Tort Litigation
The recently released American Tort Reform Foundation 2020-21 Judicial Hellholes Report highlights nine U.S. jurisdictions where expansive civil litigation continued notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to flourish. In most of these jurisdictions, mass toxic tort and environmental litigation has been prevalent.
Topping this year’s list is the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, followed by New York City and California. South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia round out the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions. St. Louis, Missouri, perennial problem …
Continue ReadingHappy Thanksgiving!
We wanted to take a moment and wish all of our subscribers and their families a very Happy Thanksgiving. Environmental Law Monitor will return next Thursday (12/3) with new posts. Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!…
Continue ReadingNew Technologies Being Developed to Combat Harmful Algal Blooms in Upstate New York
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)—neither pretty nor safe—have been an ongoing issue in certain Upstate New York lakes and other bodies of water. However, it appears that some good news has arrived for those otherwise bucolic upstate areas. Recently, the state of New York announced that new HAB mitigation technologies—being developed by Clarkson University and SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF)—are being tested: hydrodynamic cavitation with hydrogen peroxide, and electrochemical oxidation filtration.
According to the DEC, “Both treatment systems are designed to collect algae-laden water near …
Continue ReadingCOVID-19 and the U.S. Drinking Water Supply: What We Know Now
As the nation grapples with COVID-19, we wanted to pass along information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that may not be relayed as frequently as other critical details and advice on prevention and awareness.
Presently, the CDC states that COVID-19 has not been detected in drinking water, and that conventional water treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection (like those found in most municipal drinking water systems) should be effective in removing or …
Continue ReadingTrouble in Paradise: Honolulu Brings Climate Change Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Companies
Last week, the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii filed a lawsuit against major corporate members of the fossil fuel industry, alleging they knew the negative effects their products would cause via climate change but obscured the information from public knowledge in order to reap greater profits. According to the complaint, the fossil fuel companies worsened the climate crisis by undermining climate science and delaying a transition to clean energy.
According to the lawsuit, the fossil fuel companies’ actions have resulted in sea level rise that …
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