Wed May 11th, On Environmental Law, by Bick Law LLP
On Monday, May 2, 2016, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co. urged the Ninth Circuit to certify to the Oregon Supreme Court the question of whether a CERCLA Section 104(e) information request issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Ash Grove Cement Company triggered a duty to defend under a general liability insurance policy. The insurers said they should not be required to cover the […]
Mon Jan 11th, On Environmental Law, by Bick Law LLP
Can PRPs avail themselves of the divisibility defense to avoid CERCLA’s joint and several liability in the complex setting of a contaminated river sediments Superfund site, following the Fox River Litigation. In May 2015, the Eastern District of Wisconsin district court agreed with NCR that its liability for a portion of the site was divisible, and not joint and several. Then, in October 2015, the same court reversed its holding […]
Wed Aug 26th, On Environmental Law, by Bick Law LLP
The Environmental Protection Agency said today it had underestimated the amount of water built up in an abandoned Colorado mine, resulting in a catastrophic release of toxic substances into the Animas River. EPA admitted in a report released following its investigation of the incident on August 5, that it could have foreseen the rupture and release and yet it did not have measures in place in preparation for that inevitability. […]
Mon Aug 3rd, On Environmental Law, by Bick Law LLP
This summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has enhanced its focus on vapor intrusion, which occurs when vapors from underground contamination (soil or groundwater) rise into the indoor air of overlying buildings. First, EPA submitted a draft rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a renewed effort to add vapor intrusion to the pathways evaluated under the Hazard Ranking Scoring (HRS) System for National […]
