Mealeys

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Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Atlantic Richfield Agrees To Pay $150M For Cleanup Of Montana Superfund Site
Posted on 14 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

BUTTE, Mont. - The U.S. Department of Justice announced Feb. 13 that the federal government and Atlantic Richfield Co. have reached an agreement wherein the company will spend $150 million to remediate a portion of a Montana Superfund site by removing... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Study: Strongest Evidence Shows Glyphosate Causes Cancer In Mice
Posted on 14 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

NEW YORK - The journal Environmental Health on Feb. 12 published an article in which a researcher determined that the strongest evidence shows that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, causes cancer in mice. The researcher said... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Judge: EPA's FOIA Response 'Inadequate,' But Glyphosate Items Still Withheld
Posted on 14 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 12 partially granted and partially denied a law firm's requests for information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Freedom of Information... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Neighbors Say Sawmills' Increased Activities Are Violating Environmental Laws
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

PITTSBURGH - Two residents who live next to two sawmills filed a lawsuit against the owners Feb. 12 in federal court in Pennsylvania, complaining that increased activity at the sawmills is adversely affecting their property and health and violating a... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Justice: Con Ed's Potential Worksite Control Keeps It In New York Asbestos Suit
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

NEW YORK - Sufficient questions exist about whether a power company retained control over a worksite to deny its motion seeking summary judgment in a trench digger's asbestos action, a New York justice held in an opinion posted Feb. 11 (Maria Mauro... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Owners Of 3 Metal Recycling Facilities Agree To Settle Suits Over Stormwater
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

LEWISTON, Maine - The owners of three metal recycling facilities on Feb. 10 entered into an agreement with the federal government in federal court in Maine to resolve allegations that the companies were violating the Clean Water Act through discharges... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Judge: Tenants Have Valid Property Interest Claim In Housing Complex Lead Case
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

HAMMOND, Ind. - A federal judge in Indiana on Feb. 11 ruled that tenants in a housing complex had a valid due process claim related to a property interest against a housing authority that failed to remediate lead contamination (Kendra Mabry, et al. v... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Attorneys For Donziger, U.S. Government Debate Flight Risk At 2nd Circuit
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

NEW YORK - An attorney for the U.S. government and an attorney for Steven R. Donziger, the attorney who won an $18.5 billion judgment against Chevron Corp. in a court in Ecuador for injuries only to have it reversed, on Feb. 11 debated before the Second... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Company Sued For Groundwater Contamination Says Plaintiffs Fail To State Claim
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Northrop Grumman Corp. and its affiliates on Feb. 7 filed an answer and affirmative defenses in New York federal court in which they deny all allegations against them for injuries related to groundwater contamination, maintain that the... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Washington Court Affirms $4.5M Covenant Agreement In Asbestos Case
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

SEATTLE - A trial court properly considered the potential verdicts and likelihood of success when determining the reasonableness of a $4.5 million covenant agreement in an asbestos case, a Washington appeals court held Feb. 11 (Robert P. Ulbricht, et... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Judge Denies Motions To Exclude Experts' Opinions In Cleanup Suit
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

DAYTON, Ohio - A federal judge in Ohio on Feb. 10 denied motions to exclude the proffered expert testimony of an allocation expert and a waste stream specialist brought by defendant companies in a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Glyphosate Cancer Victim: Monsanto Verdict Stands; Preemption Issue Inapplicable
Posted on 13 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

SAN FRANCISCO - A glyphosate cancer victim on Feb. 11 filed a brief in California appeals court contending that it should affirm a verdict in his favor against Monsanto Co., the maker of the herbicide Roundup, and arguing that the appellate court does... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Tribal Company Says California Lacks Jurisdiction Over Its Sales To Another Tribe
Posted on 11 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

WASHINGTON, D.C. - An Indian wholesale tobacco company in New York asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review a California appeals court holding that the state has jurisdiction to regulate the company's sales to a tribe in California in a petition for... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Asbestos Trial Will Feature Speculative Evidence, Rejected Theory, Defendants Say
Posted on 11 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

PHILADELPHIA - At trial, a man will produce nothing but inadmissible evidence, speculation and the rejected market-share theory of liability in an asbestos case, a quartet of defendants argue in Feb. 7 pretrial memoranda filed in Pennsylvania federal... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - Judge: Interview With Now-Deceased Truck Driver, Summaries Are Admissible
Posted on 11 Feb 2020 by Mealeys

DAYTON, Ohio - A federal judge in Ohio on Feb. 10 ruled that the transcript and three summaries of a 2005 interview between a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigator and a now-deceased truck driver who said he regularly delivered drums of plating... Read More

Tags: Toxic Tort/Environmental , Top Headlines

  • Blog Post: Court Reverses Ruling In Condo Action, Finds No Coverage For Mold Damage

    Mealeys
    NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana appeals court on March 7 reversed a summary judgment ruling in favor of a condominium owner who allegedly failed to repair storm damage that resulted in water and mold issues in an adjoining condo, finding that he failed to present any evidence that the damage was covered under...
    on 10 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: FDA Report Says Youth Smoking Is A Public Health Epidemic

    Mealeys
    ROCKVILLE, Md. - One week after its attempt to impose graphic warnings onto cigarette packs that it hopes will discourage youthful smoking was defeated in court, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a report March 8 warning that tobacco use among juveniles remains a major public health problem...
    on 10 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Judge Refuses To Break Settlement Over Later Benzene Discovery

    Mealeys
    ALEXANDRIA, La. - Plaintiffs are bound to a settlement they reached with a natural gas pipeline company even though they did not know of the presence of benzene in the leak when they settled their claims, a Louisiana federal judge said March 7, adding that the plaintiffs could have discovered the information...
    on 10 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Court Affirms Denial Of Request To Add Evidence On Mold Spoliation

    Mealeys
    MARKHAM, Ill. - An Illinois appeals court on March 9 affirmed a trial court's decision to deny a motion to amend filed by a former employee at a law firm who sought to add a claim for spoliation of mold evidence, finding that her request was not timely (Simonetti Samuels v. Tishman Speyer Properties...
    on 12 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Ohio Court: 'Nontraditional Route' To Treatment Shouldn't Doom Asbestos Claim

    Mealeys
    CLEVELAND - Ohio did not intend for its asbestos litigation legislation to erase a claim brought by a worker whose union benefits provided a nontraditional route to treatment and who died prior to learning that the new criteria would apply to pending claims, an Ohio appeals court held March 8 (Marilyn...
    on 12 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Judge Denies Motions, Applies Offsets To $9.18 Million Asbestos Verdict

    Mealeys
    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A Virginia judge on March 9 denied John Crane Inc.'s post-trial motions and entered a final order reducing a jury's award to $8,475,000 from $9.18 million to account for settlements reached on a widow's wrongful death claim arising from her late husband's exposure...
    on 12 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Compensatory Damages Affirmed, Punitive Damages Denied By Louisiana Supreme Court

    Mealeys
    NEW ORLEANS - A divided Louisiana Supreme Court applied a choice-of-law analysis in an opinion issued March 13 to conclude that a trial court erred when it imposed punitive damages on the owner and operator of a chemical refinery but affirmed the award of compensatory damages for personal injuries related...
    on 15 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: New York Appellate Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Suit For Cell Phone Tower Removal

    Mealeys
    NEW YORK - A First Department New York Supreme Court Appellate Division panel entered an opinion March 13 affirming dismissal of a declaratory judgment action filed by Manhattan residents who seek to have a cellular telephone tower removed because of alleged exposure to radio frequency radiation (Susan...
    on 15 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Judge: No Evidence Links Man's Work To Crane Co. Asbestos Product

    Mealeys
    WILMINGTON, Del. - A jury could surmise that a man worked with Crane Co. valves while disassembling World War II-era ships but not that those valves contained asbestos-containing components for which the company would be liable, a Delaware judge held March 12 (In re Asbestos Litigation: Ralph Curtis...
    on 15 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: 11th Circuit: Debtor's Case Properly Dismissed For Not Listing Separate Lawsuit

    Mealeys
    ATLANTA - A panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 14 ruled that a district court properly dismissed a bankruptcy case because the debtor failed to disclose that she had filed a separate $10 million lawsuit against the government (Laura J. Jones v. United States of America, No. 11-13158...
    on 15 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: New York Jury Returns Verdict For Cleaver Brooks In Asbestos Case

    Mealeys
    NEW YORK - A New York jury on March 13 returned a defense verdict in a man's action against Cleaver Brooks for allegedly exposing him to asbestos, sources told Mealey Publications (John Zaugg v. Air & Liquid Systems, et al., No. 190008-2010, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).
    on 15 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Judge Affirms Ruling Permitting 'Each And Every Exposure' Testimony

    Mealeys
    PHILADELPHIA - A magistrate judge did not clearly err in allowing various experts' "each and every exposure" testimony or in finding that another defendant waived its right to object to improper service, the judge overseeing the federal asbestos multidistrict litigation held March 13 (In...
    on 15 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Louisiana Appellate Panel Upsets In Part Certification Of Chemical Release Class

    Mealeys
    BATON ROUGE, La. - A divided Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal panel ruled March 14 that certification of the class action claims of East Baton Rouge residents for exposure to sulfuric acid following a February 1999 refinery release was in error in part based on the record (Henry T. Stewart III...
    on 16 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Federal Judge Stays Case Pending Appeal In Toxic Mine Exposure Case

    Mealeys
    ST. LOUIS - A Missouri federal judge on March 14 granted a motion to stay a case filed by Peruvian children who allege that they suffered injuries as a result of toxic exposures from a mine in Peru, pending appeal to a U.S. appeals court of the judge's previous decision to refuse their application...
    on 16 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Fume Injury Claims Survive No-Evidence Judgment Motion In Illinois Federal Court

    Mealeys
    CHICAGO - The personal injury claims of a truck driver alleging a respiratory injury from exposure to paint solvent fumes survived a defense motion for no-causation summary judgment in an order entered March 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Steven Noffsinger v. The...
    on 19 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Split 6th Circuit Says New Cigarette Warnings Are Constitutional

    Mealeys
    LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Given that tobacco companies have learned to circumvent bans on marketing to minors, a divided Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said March 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposal for large, graphic warnings on packs pursuant to the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention...
    on 20 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Federal Judge Dismisses Residents' Remaining Claims In Moldy Condo Action

    Mealeys
    PANAMA CITY, Fla. - A Florida federal judge on March 19 dismissed the remaining claims asserted by residents of a condominium that allegedly contained mold and other defects against the owner of the complex, finding that they failed to show that the company committed fraud or breached their contract...
    on 20 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Judge Dismisses Action Against Asbestos Experts, Testing Service

    Mealeys
    JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi federal judge on March 19 dismissed an action against various asbestos experts and a testing service, finding that the plaintiff failed to pursue the case (National Service Industries Inc., f/d/b/a North Brothers Inc. v. Jay T. Segarra, M.D., et al., No. 09-83, S.D Miss...
    on 21 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: High Court Says Couple Can Seek Review Of EPA's Compliance Order

    Mealeys
    WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on March 21 unanimously found that an Idaho couple could file a lawsuit challenging a compliance order issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act (CWA) because the order was a final agency action that could be reviewed under...
    on 22 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Georgia Court: Judge Properly Excluded Nonparty Asbestos Defendants

    Mealeys
    ATLANTA - A judge properly granted partial summary judgment excluding nonparty asbestos defendants from apportionment of liability to an employer for which no duty existed and several other defendants for which the evidence of causation fell short, a Georgia appeals court affirmed March 20 ( Union Carbide...
    on 22 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Coverage Owed For Subsidiaries Of Insured, Missouri Appeals Panel Finds

    Mealeys
    ST. LOUIS - Subsidiaries of an insured which operated a lead smelter plant are owed coverage under the insured's policies because the policies clearly state that coverage is afforded to "all affiliated or subsidiary companies as they are now or may hereafter be constituted," the Eastern...
    on 22 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: United Kingdom Health/Safety Executive Reports On Asbestos-Related Prosecution

    Mealeys
    LONDON - The United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on March 20 announced that an English magistrate's court fined a demolition firm after it tore down a building that contained asbestos ceiling tiles without having the appropriate asbestos removal license (HSE/NW/751BT). Lexis.com subscribers...
    on 22 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Judge Says Dukes Does Not Prevent Certification Of Smokers' Monitoring Class

    Mealeys
    BOSTON - The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes (131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011) does not justify decertification of a class of smokers seeking medical monitoring to check for incipient cancers, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled March 21 (Kathleen Donovan, et al. v. Philip...
    on 23 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Illinois Top Court Remands Secondhand Exposure Case For Amendment

    Mealeys
    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Avoiding the issue of whether duty exists to protect household members from asbestos, a divided Illinois Supreme Court on March 22 remanded a woman's action so that she can try to better meet the foreseeability standard ( Cynthia Simpkins,et al. v. CSX Transportation Inc., No...
    on 23 Mar 2012

  • Blog Post: Pa. Federal Judge Finds Fact Issues Exist, Summary Judgment Not Warranted

    Mealeys
    PHILADELPHIA - Because genuine issues of material fact exist regarding whether excess insurers' policies preclude coverage for underlying asbestos claims, a Pennsylvania federal judge on March 21 denied the insurers' motions for summary judgment ( General Refractories Co. v. First State Insurance...
    on 23 Mar 2012