Cleanup set for 200,000 waste tires left at Anderson business
State environmental officials are stepping in to clean up nearly 200,000 shredded tires left at a former central Indiana recycling business.
Energy & Environmental Law
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Web Exclusive: Are E.coli outbreaks a concern for CAFOs?
Large livestock operations in the Western United States are suspected culprits in the E. coli contamination of romaine lettuce, but Hoosier agriculture experts doubt a similar situation is likely here.
Indiana joins 21-state coalition supporting Trump energy plan
Indiana joined a 21-state coalition in support of President Donald Trump’s proposed replacement of the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era effort to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Justices skeptical of argument to overturn Va. mining ban
The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of arguments by companies seeking to overturn a decades-old ban on uranium mining in Virginia. The commonwealth has had a ban on uranium mining since the 1980s.
Trump signs bill streamlining hydropower plant permits
President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill from a Virginia congressman that streamlines the permitting process for certain hydropower plants, including a kind Dominion Energy is considering building.
Judgment affirmed for insurer uninformed of claims
A divided Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment to an insurance company after a client waited more than a decade to notify it had made payments in several suits brought against it.
COA allows environmental cleanup claims filed after 10 years
In a decision about the cleanup and redevelopment of an old industrial site, the Indiana Court of Appeals has provided a definitive answer to a long-simmering debate among Indiana environmental lawyers.
Tax Court: Scanty evidence fails to lower property value
The Indiana Tax Court affirmed an Indiana Board of Tax Review’s determination that evidence presented to reduce a property’s assessment of improvements was not probative of the property’s 2016 market value-in-use.
NIPSCO plans to phase out coal-fired generation within a decade
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. says it’s considering retiring four of its five remaining coal-fired electricity generating units within five years and the other within a decade.
Turning brownfields into green land neither cheap nor easy
A 20-year-old state environmental law, oblique court decisions and a provision inserted seven years ago into the statute of limitations are coming together in a case from Elkhart that many environmental lawyers are hoping will finally settle lingering debates over when suits recouping cleanup costs may be filed.
Harrell and Lucas: CPP vs. ACE — A case study of administrative ‘parenting styles’
Most of us can recall when our caretakers made different parenting choices to achieve similar outcomes. Some embraced “tough love” where discipline and strictness set expectations. Others used gentler encouragement and allowed broader autonomy. Those parenting styles — the “tough” versus the “flexible” parent — are apt frameworks for comparing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) and the Trump-era Affordable Clean Energy rule (ACE) approaches to carbon dioxide emissions limits for electric utility steam generating units (EGUs).
EPA begins cleanup of toxic Indianapolis commercial property
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced it has begun cleaning up a south-side Indianapolis property that has been soaked in hazardous waste for decades. The 1.35-acre property known as the AA Oil Site has been abandoned since 1993.
Jury awards $289M to man who blames Roundup for cancer
A San Francisco jury’s $289 million award to a former school groundskeeper who said Monsanto’s Roundup left him dying of cancer will bolster thousands of pending cases and open the door for countless people who blame their suffering on the weed killer, the man’s lawyers said.
Pence family gas stations left costly environmental legacy
The collapse of an oil company linked to the Pence family in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 of the company’s contaminated sites, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.
Supreme Court rejects Indiana barge company’s oil spill appeal
An Indiana-based barge company lost its bid Monday to have the Supreme Court of the United States hear a case of first impression over whether the company was liable under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for an oil spill caused by the tug boat operator.
EPA must reply to suit over power plant pollution from Indiana, other states
A federal judge has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to respond to Maryland's request for a declaration that power plants in five upwind states are contributing to Maryland’s air quality problems.
EPA to update Hammond, Whiting residents on toxic cleanup
Residents of two northwestern Indiana cities are getting an update on efforts to clean up heavy metals near a former industrial smelter.
Indiana residents urged to comment on US Steel settlement
Environmental groups are urging northwest Indiana residents to comment on a proposed federal settlement over a U.S. Steel plant’s discharging of a hazardous chemical that entered a Lake Michigan tributary in Portage.
EPA finds more lead contamination in Hammond, Whiting
The Environmental Protection Agency has discovered more lead contamination in northwestern Indiana. Soil samples collected since October have revealed more than two dozen contaminated yards in Hammond and Whiting, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Indiana leads amici fight against California climate change suit
Indiana is leading a 15-state fight against a California lawsuit the states say represents an attempt by two California cities to impose their climate change policies on a national level.