Facts The plaintiff in this case is Suzanne P., the mother of a 14-year-old boy who tragically died after sustaining injuries while swimming in the Buffalo Creek near the Easing Sills low-head dams in Erie County, New York.1 While swimming, the child was pulled underwater by a “hydraulic boil,” causing him to sustain drowning injuries that … Continued

Facts Lawsuits filed against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) agency that authorizes oil and gas production on leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, challenged the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Willow Master Development Plan (the Willow Project). … Continued

Facts Herring in Sitka Sound, located in southeast Alaska, is harvested for both subsistence and commercial purposes, each requiring different harvesting methods.1 In facilitating the management and regulation of the herring and similar natural resources, the Alaskan Legislature established two agencies.2 The commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game (the Department) has the authority to “manage, … Continued

Facts The Gulf of Mexico is home to two competing obligations. These federal waters—the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)—are habitat to endangered and threatened marine wildlife, such as the Rice’s whale and the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, as well as the extraction site for much of the United States’ offshore oil and gas industry.1 A number … Continued

Facts The Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act (SPRTKA) was enacted by New York State in an effort to alert the public about “nearby waterbodies which have been polluted by sewage discharges to protect their health and safety.”1 SPRTKA mandates municipalities notify residents in the event of combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharge events—events where untreated and … Continued

Facts Intervenor Formosa proposed to construct a “large chemical manufacturing complex consisting of fourteen separate facilities . . . located along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana.”1 Formosa submitted all relevant and necessary paperwork, subject to Title V/Part 70, to defendant Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for review. Upon receiving the permit request, … Continued

Facts Plaintiffs, including DLV Quogue, LLC, who are developers of a mixed-use commercial golf club and resort residential community called The Hills at Southampton, and Defendants, including the Town of Southampton (the Town), each moved for summary judgment regarding their dispute over land use and mixed-use development. Plaintiffs claimed they had a property right in … Continued

Facts Exxon Mobil Corp. and several other energy companies appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from a federal district court’s order determining it lacked jurisdiction for a state-law claim and remanding to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.1 Defendants included Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell PLC, BP PLC, … Continued

Facts This case involves the U.S. military’s water usage and conservation of at-risk wildlife. Fort Huachuca (the Fort) is a major U.S. Army garrison located in the Upper San Pedro River Basin of southeast Arizona.1 The Fort pumps groundwater from the basin, an area home to wildlife species currently—or under consideration to be—protected by the Endangered … Continued

Facts Cobleskill Stone Products, Inc. (Cobleskill Stone) is the owner of a quarry in the Town of Schoharie; it has operated the quarry since the 1890s.1 In 1975, the Town of Schoharie zoned the area including the quarry, “allowing . . . mining upon receipt of a special use permit.”2 As a prior nonconforming use, the quarry … Continued