Legal News Articles - Environment

Is Fracking Causing Earthquakes?

January 4, 2012. By Lucy Campbell.

Cleveland, OH: A recent earthquake in Ohio has experts debating whether activities related to hydraulic fracking for natural gas, which involves high-pressure liquid injection, may be the cause.

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DuPont Herbicide Blamed for Tree Deaths

September 1, 2011. By Brenda Craig.

New York, NY: Imprelis, a commercial herbicide manufactured by DuPont and used in commercial applications is alleged to be responsible for damaging or causing the death of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of trees, on mostly large-scale properties like golf courses and country clubs in the US. "People care about their trees and this is ugly stuff," says Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP attorney Jonathan Selbin from his office in New York. The firm has just filed a national class action against DuPont.

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DuPont Pulls Imprelis

August 8, 2011. By Lucy Campbell.

Dover, DE: DuPont's new herbicide Imprelis is being pulled from the market following a flurry of complaints and lawsuits over dead and damaged trees.

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Are Military Burn Pits a Contributing Factor to Rare Lung Disorder?

July 23, 2011. By Gordon Gibb.

Nashville, TN: Speculation and suspicion surrounding breathing and lung problems stemming from military burn pits have now evolved to a stronger platform following publication of findings July 21 in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

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Is the Community of Cathedral City Living with Asbestos?

July 7, 2011. By Jane Mundy.

Cathedral City, CA: Although the community of Cathedral City has yet to determine whether asbestos is the cause of their health problems, Jessica believes that the construction site nearby should be tested. "This company washes old building materials to make them 'new' again, but at what cost to residents—we are breathing toxic dust daily," she says.

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Town Sues BP and Shell for Cancer, Cancer Risk and Collapsing Property Values

July 5, 2011. By Brenda Craig.

Chesterfield, MO: Roxana, Illinois, population 1,547, is a tiny little klatch of wood frame homes resting along the Missouri border, some of them built not more than 500 feet from the site of the Shell Oil refinery that sprang up there at the beginning of the 1900s.

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Burn Pit Exposure Increasing Number of Lung Illnesses among Veterans

July 4, 2011. By Charles Benson.

New York, NY: The number of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans suffering from lung illnesses continues to increase, with many speculating that burn pit exposure is the major culprit, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

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Evacuation from Montana Oil Spill

July 2, 2011. By Jane Mundy.

Billings, MT: Residents near Laurel, Montana were temporarily evacuated Saturday morning after an ExxonMobile crude oil pipeline ruptured and caused an unknown amount of oil to spill into the waterway. The pipeline, which runs under the Yellowstone River near Billings in south-central Montana, apparently leaked for about 30 minutes.

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$8.1 Million Settlement Is the Right Thing to Do, Says Attorney

June 28, 2011. By Brenda Craig.

Chicago, IL: Kraft Foods has agreed to pay $8.1 million for contaminating 124 homes in a neighborhood in Attica, located near one of its plants. "I think ultimately in our case Kraft did the right thing," says veteran pollution lawyer, Norm Berger, whose firm Varga, Berger, Ledsky, Hayes & Casey commenced the action on behalf of class representatives two years ago; however, he adds, "We had to punch them in the nose to get it done."

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Update: Open Pit Burn Lawsuits

June 22, 2011. By Jane Mundy.

Washington, DC: "We are pushing the open pit burn litigation as fast as possible," says attorney Susan Burke, Burke PLLC. "Unfortunately no lawsuit can reverse the course of a disease. It breaks your heart, especially because these people fought for us—it's not like they have been killed by enemy fire." Burke has filed claims for hundreds of people who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan; a few have already died.

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