Many different industries produce waste products that can impact water quality, especially if they discharge those wastes into local waters. The Clean Water Act obligates companies around the country, including those in California, to take responsibility for...
Ex-Los Angeles Sparks executive sues the team
A former executive with the Los Angeles Sparks is disputing the cause of her termination from the WNBA team. The franchise has said the woman was fired on Oct. 4, 2019, because she used a racial slur when addressing players following a game. She said she was fired...The EPA Steps Up Enforcement Of Civil Violations From Lead-Based Paint Renovation
In recent years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ramped up its efforts to fine and enforce civil violations against sub-contractors and demolition businesses which remodel or renovate homes constructed prior to 1978. Specifically, the EPA cites...Is public nuisance the new environmental legal watchdog?
A company concerned about its exposure to environmental litigation may have to contend with a new legal theory: public nuisance. Traditionally, a toxic tort class-action lawsuit may have been the legal theory claimed against an alleged environmental offender. However,...California water laws took center stage in a recent verdict
Water is the lifeblood of many ecosystems, making it one of the earth’s most precious commodities. Accordingly, local, state, and federal authorities take water quality protection seriously.For example, wastewater from manufacturing or other industrial...California toxic waste lawsuit settles for $10 million
Settlements in environmental litigation don’t come cheaply. In a recent example, O’Reilly Auto Parts has agreed to pay almost $10 million to settle a lawsuit brought by over 50 California district attorneys. The amount includes civil penalties, litigation...Who must pay for hazardous waste cleanup in RCRA litigation?
Valero, a California refining company, has reached a settlement with officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to a recent EPA release, Valero will pay a $157,800 fine to settle allegations of improper hazardous waste handling.Valero is a big...Are California lawmakers encouraging environmental litigation?
Environmental litigation can be an important tool for protecting a party’s rights under applicable federal or state statutes. Litigation for its own sake, however, is another matter.Recently, the California legislature approved two bills that have some...Fast-tracking environmental litigation for select developments
Like all legislative bills in California, it is would-be law that must successfully negotiate some hurdles before taking legal effect. Its author hopes it can garner so-called “super-majority” bipartisan support in both the California State Assembly and...Delta tunnel system? Justices give district partial victory
Water concerns are flatly huge and always on the minds of Californians, likely in a way unexperienced by residents of any other state.That is partially attributable, of course, to the state being the most heavily populated in the country. It owes, too, to...
