LATEST INSIGHTS

Puerto Rico
Posted by:

Contaminated Water Supply Continues to Plague Puerto Rico

More than a month after Hurricane Maria reached Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 as a strong Category 4 hurricane, its catastrophic environmental effects continue to be felt as new problems complicate relief efforts. As of the middle of October 2017, approximately 35 percent of residents in Puerto Rico had no access to clean water. Relief teams began distributing water from a well at the Dorado Groundwater Contamination Site, which had been on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund list as recently as 2016. Although …

Continue Reading
Agriculture
Posted by:

Di-can’t-a Part 2: Enter the Plaintiff’s Bar

In July, the Environmental Law Monitor reported on regulatory responses to the herbicide dicamba from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri.

Dicamba has been a hot button topic in the farming/agricultural world, which often finds itself at the busy intersection of environmental and toxic tort issues. As many of you know, dicamba is an herbicide that’s been in use for decades, but in the past couple of years suppliers have designed certain types of crops that are genetically modified to tolerate having the chemical sprayed on them. …

Continue Reading
Due Diligence
Posted by:

Environmental Due Diligence for M&A Transactions

Part 1-Introduction

A common purchase in the United States is a car, something necessary for many of us to get to work, travel to the grocery store, pick-up kids at school — among the thousands of destinations where Americans use their car. When we buy a car, we often do an investigation, so to speak. We do online research on the vehicles that peak our interest, we inspect the vehicle at the dealership, we ask questions of the dealer, and we test-drive the car. We …

Continue Reading
General
Posted by:

2017 CLM Southeast Conference 

On November 2nd and 3rd in Atlanta at the CLM Southeast Conference, Goldberg Segalla Partner George Buermann, CEO Dawn Krigstin, Envoy Specialty LLC, and Senior Vice President Philip Watters, P.E., Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. will hold a panel discussion on “Environmental Cost Recovery Actions and Spill Litigation.”  The discussion will be geared towards addressing the myriad of challenges that face insurers and insureds in CERCLA /Superfund matters and other similar state actions and offering tips that will position your company in …

Continue Reading
EPA
Posted by:

Two Birds With One Violation: EPA Uses Settlement with Heritage Environmental Services LLC to Upgrade Indiana Schools

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a unique settlement with Heritage Environmental Services LLC over multiple hazardous waste violations issued in 2012 during an inspection of Heritage’s Indianapolis waste disposal facility.

As part of the settlement, in addition to improving its waste handling procedures and paying a $77,385 civil penalty, Heritage agreed to install energy efficient, PCB-free lighting and new drinking water fountains with lead-filtering systems at the Carrie Gosch Pre-K Early Learning Center and the Joseph L. Block Middle School in East …

Continue Reading
Illinois
Posted by:

Scrapping the Scrubbers — Illinois EPA Proposes Wholesale Changes to the Pollution Limits for Coal Plants

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has announced new rule proposals for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from coal plants. The proposed amendments to the state’s Multi-Pollutant Strategy would limit sulfur dioxide emissions to 55,000 tons per year and limit nitrogen oxide emissions to 25,000 tons per year.

The Multi-Pollutant Standard, or “MPS,” was originally negotiated between power companies and Illinois in 2006. Under the MPS, the power companies agreed to install pollution control equipment for sulfur dioxide, mercury and nitrogen oxide by certain deadlines. …

Continue Reading
EPA
Posted by:

“How am I doing?” — The Preliminary Hurricane Scorecard for the EPA

The EPA maintains that it is working with local, state, and federal officials to respond to Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria. With all three hurricanes, the EPA maintains that its role is to assess and assist with drinking water and waste water systems, Superfund sites, and flood waters.

Christine Todd Whitman, former EPA Administrator, recently interviewed by Bloomberg News claimed that vacancies at the top of nearly all 10 regional EPA offices will likely hamper EPA’s response to Hurricane Harvey. Whitman said that …

Continue Reading
Pollution Exclusion
Posted by:

The Pollution Exclusion Continues to be Examined Nationwide

The following two recent cases decided by the United States Court of Appeals from the Eighth and Fifth Circuits impact the analysis and application of the pollution exclusion nationwide.

Pollution Exclusion: Carbon Monoxide A Pollutant

The Eighth Circuit case of Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. Christopher A. Klick, No. 16-4000 (August 14, 2017), in the context of carbon monoxide poisoning exposure, held that the pollution exclusion applied and that the policies did not cover the injuries sustained. Even in light of the …

Continue Reading
Puerto Rico
Posted by:

Hurricane Maria Brings Expected Adverse Environmental Impact to Puerto Rico

In recent weeks, we’ve written about the documented environmental effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The recovery periods for those disasters will take substantial time, and even then the ramifications of those powerful hurricanes will be felt long after. Unfortunately, we have seen yet another natural disaster in Hurricane Maria — the destructive Category 4 storm that made landfall on the southern coast of Puerto Rico at around 6:15 AM EDT last Wednesday, since causing much havoc to the territory. As late as September 23, …

Continue Reading
Filling up a glass with drinking water from kitchen tap
EPA
Posted by:

EPA Funds Nanotech Firm for Development of Technology to Measure Lead in Household Drinking Water

On September 19, 2017, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was awarding nearly $100,000 in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to NanoSafe, Inc. in Blacksburg, Virginia to foster technologies that can accurately measure lead levels in household drinking water. SBIR funding is intended to help small, high-tech businesses develop proof of concepts that can be brought to market and commercialized. With more and more attention being focused on the safety of public and private drinking water, simple, inexpensive and accurate measurement …

Continue Reading