At the end of August, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) issued guidance that allows volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) released to groundwater to be left in place under certain circumstances;...more
Underscoring the importance of pleading actual injury in a toxic tort class action, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed Oklahoma class claims that were based only on “reasonable concern” of future injury...more
In perhaps the most well-publicized environmental release incident since Deepwater Horizon, Southern California Gas Co. faces a number of toxic tort-based lawsuits stemming from a natural gas leak at one of its storage wells...more
In what may be part of a wave of litigation blaming increased seismicity on oil and gas development activities, 12 residents of Oklahoma City and its suburbs filed suit against oil and gas drillers and operators of wastewater...more
The judge in a petroleum exposure case will allow a jury to decide whether a gas station operator and its environmental consultant recklessly failed to inform a plumber of the risks of working in an excavated pit with a...more
In a ruling that underscores the difficulty of securing class certification in toxic tort cases involving fear of contamination claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a Missouri federal...more
Reinforcing the requirement for expert testimony to support toxic tort personal injury claims under Texas law, a Texas appellate court held that claims for damages due to “symptoms caused by discomfort” do not fall within the...more
In a case that tested a federal judge’s patience for inadequate pleadings, a Michigan federal court shut down a group of business owners’ repeated attempts to craft viable tort claims against an oil refinery in a...more
Potentially opening the door for litigation that seeks to tie deep-well injection of hydraulic fracturing flowback and other wastewater to damage caused by earthquakes, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously held that state...more
8/6/2015
/ Causation ,
Corporations Commission ,
Dismissals ,
Earthquakes ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
Fracking ,
Jurisdiction ,
Negligence ,
Oil & Gas ,
OK Supreme Court ,
Proximate Cause ,
Reversal ,
State Law Tort Claims ,
Underground Injection Wells ,
Wastewater
In what may be a cautionary tale for owners of contaminated property, a New Jersey appellate court has ruled that a landowner forfeited any claim to property damages when he allowed the responsible party to perform...more