Environmental Lawsuits
| Lawsuit(s) | Environmental asset(s) and subject(s) of lawsuit(s) |
Court(s) of decision(s) | Year(s) of decision(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. EPA | Air: authority to overrule state decisions about technology | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
| Aldred's Case | Aesthetics: smell from pig sty | 1610 | |
| Amchem Products Inc. v. British Columbia Worker's Compensation Board | Workplace: asbestos | Supreme Court of Canada | 1993 |
| American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut | Climate: greenhouse gas emissions | Supreme Court of the United States | 2011 |
| Anderson v. Cryovac | Water: toxic contamination | ||
| Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. | General environment: production and disposal of nuclear fuel | Supreme Court of the United States | 1983 |
| Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC | Crop of peanuts: damage by pesticide | Supreme Court of the United States | 2005 |
| Burmah Oil Co. v Lord Advocate | Oil fields: destruction during World War II | Courts of Scotland | 1965 |
| Cardwell v. American Bridge Co. | Waterways: common highways | Supreme Court of the United States | 1885 |
| Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia | Recycling: bottle deposit | High Court of Australia | 1990 |
| Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt | Cleanliness: interstate importation fee for disposal of hazardous waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
| Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. | Air: emissions from new equipment and total emissions from plant | Supreme Court of the United States | 1984 |
| Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe | Parkland: highway routing | Supreme Court of the United States | 1971 |
| City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey | Cleanliness: interstate importation of waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
| Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council | Water: gold mine waste disposal in Lower Slate Lake | Supreme Court of the United States | 2009 |
| Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States | Water: supply | Supreme Court of the United States | 1976 |
| Commonwealth v Tasmania | Water: hydroelectric dam on Gordon River | High Court of Australia | 1983 |
| Compagnie Francaise de Navigation a Vapeur v. Louisiana Board of Health | General environment: quarantine | Supreme Court of the United States | 1902 |
| Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen | Air: pollution from international transport | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
| Dolan v. City of Tigard | Land: paving a parking lot, and providing a greenway and a pedestrian and bicycle pathway | Supreme Court of the United States | 1994 |
| Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group | Workplace: nuclear accidents | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
| Edwards v. National Coal Board | Land: preventing accidental rock fall in coal mine | 1949 | |
| Entergy v. Riverkeeper | Water: cooling water intakes for power plants | Supreme Court of the United States | 2009 |
| Environment Agency v Clark | Land: compliance with landfill licence terms | ||
| Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker | Water and land: compensation for victims of oil spill | Supreme Court of the United States | 2008 |
| Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation | Water: hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls | Supreme Court of the United States | 1960 |
| Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. | Water: industrial pollution of North Tyger River | Supreme Court of the United States | 2000 |
| Gade v. National Solid Wastes Management Association | Workplace: hazardous waste materials | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
| Geer v. Connecticut | Wildlife: interstate transportation of wild fowl | Supreme Court of the United States | 1896 |
| Hadacheck v. Sebastian | Aesthetics: pollution from manufacture of clay bricks | Supreme Court of the United States | 1915 |
| Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests) | Forests: duty to consult Aboriginal groups before exploiting resources | Supreme Court of Canada | 2004 |
| Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC v. Salazar | Water: offshore drilling | United States federal courts | ongoing |
| Hughes v. Oklahoma | Wildlife: federal legislation | Supreme Court of the United States | 1979 |
| Industrial Union Department v. American Petroleum Institute | Workplace: exposure to benzene | Supreme Court of the United States | 1980 |
| Interprovincial Cooperatives v. The Queen | Water: interprovincial river pollution | Supreme Court of Canada | 1975 |
| Jackson v Attorney General | Wildlife: hunting foxes and hares | House of Lords of the United Kingdom | 2005, 2006 |
| Jacksonville, MD ExxonMobil Gas Leak Case | Land and aquifers: gasoline leak from service station | 2009 | |
| Kansas v. Colorado | Supreme Court of the United States | 1902, 1907, 1943, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2009 | |
| Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corp., Et al. | Climate: destruction of a community by climate change | United States federal courts | ongoing |
| Kleppe v. New Mexico | Wildlife: horses and burros | Supreme Court of the United States | 1976 |
| Kruger and al. v. The Queen | Wildlife: hunting of deer by Aboriginals out of season | Supreme Court of Canada | 1978 |
| Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council | Coastland: erecting homes | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
| Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife | Wildlife: geographical limits of a section of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
| Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association | Forests: road building and timber harvesting | Supreme Court of the United States | 1988 |
| M. C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath | Water and land: land encroachment causing swelling of Beas River and washing away of land | Supreme Court of India | 1997 |
| M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak Case) | Air: pollution causing a hazard to community of Delhi | Supreme Court of India | |
| Maine v. Taylor | Fisheries: interstate importation of fish | Supreme Court of the United States | 1986 |
| Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency | Air: regulation of greenhouse gases | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
| McLaren v. Caldwell | Waterways: common highways | Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | 1884 |
| Metropolitan Edison Co. v. People Against Nuclear Energy | General environment: restarting reactor | Supreme Court of the United States | 1983 |
| Missouri v. Holland | Wildlife: hunting migratory waterfowl | Supreme Court of the United States | 1920 |
| Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railway Company of Texas v. Clay May | Land: weed propagation | Supreme Court of the United States | 1904 |
| Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser | Farmland: deliberate propagation of canola contaminated by genetically modified organisms | Supreme Court of Canada | 2004 |
| Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms | Farmland: genetically modified alfalfa | Supreme Court of the United States | 2010 |
| Morrison v. Olson | Land: Superfund law regarding hazardous waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1998 |
| National Assn. of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife | Water and wildlife: granting state authority over anti-pollution statutes | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
| National Audubon Society v. Superior Court | Water: supply from Mono Lake | Supreme Court of California | 1983 |
| New Jersey v. Delaware | Water: liquefied natural gas pipeline | Supreme Court of the United States | 2008 |
| New York v. United States | General environment: disposal of radioactive waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
| Nollan v. California Coastal Commission | Coastland: erecting a house, and providing a public greenway and a bicycle path | Supreme Court of the United States | 1987 |
| Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance | Wilderness: preservation | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
| Nulyarimma v Thompson | Water: mining company draining Lake Eyre | Federal Court of Australia | 1999 |
| Operation Dismantle v. The Queen | General environment: military tests increasing risk or nuclear war | Supreme Court of Canada | 1985 |
| Oregon Waste Systems, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Quality of Oregon | Cleanliness: interstate disposal of waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1994 |
| Palila v. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources | Wildlife: introduced species (goats and sheep) | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 1981 |
| Partridge v Crittenden | Wildlife: advertising brambling cocks and hens | Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales | 1968 |
| People v. the Brooklyn Cooperage Company | Forests: logging in Adirondack Park | New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division | 1906 |
| R. v. Badger | Wildlife: hunting by Aboriginals on private land | Supreme Court of Canada | 1996 |
| R. v. City of Sault Ste-Marie | Water: locating a waste disposal site near a stream | Supreme Court of Canada | 1978 |
| R. v. Crown Zellerbach Canada Ltd. | Water: ocean dumping | Supreme Court of Canada | 1988 |
| R. v. Hydro-Québec | Water: dumping polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the St. Maurice River | Supreme Court of Canada | 1997 |
| R. v. Jim | Wildlife: hunting by Aboriginals on Indian reserves | British Columbia Supreme Court | 1915 |
| R. v. Van der Peet | Fisheries: Aboriginal fishing rights extending to selling | Supreme Court of Canada | 1996 |
| Rapanos v. United States | Wetlands: filling with sand | Supreme Court of the United States | 2006 |
| Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation | Wildlife: irrigation damaging endangered species | U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals | 2010 |
| Rylands v Fletcher | Water and land: reservoir flooding adjacent land | House of Lords of the United Kingdom | 1868 |
| Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State | General environment: atomic bombs damaging Hiroshima and Nagasaki | District Court of Tokyo | 1963 |
| S. D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection | Water: hydroelectric dams discharging into Presumpscot River | Supreme Court of the United States | 2006 |
| SCOJ 2005 No.1977 | Electromagnetic radiation at natural levels: health-care benefits for hibakusha | Supreme Court of Japan | 1957, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1995, 2003, 2005 |
| Sierra Club v. Morton | Parkland: development | Supreme Court of the United States | 1972 |
| Slaughter-House Cases | Water: slaughterhouse waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1873 |
| Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook Cty. v. Army Corps of Engineers | Water: waste disposal | Supreme Court of the United States | 2001 |
| Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas | Water: exportation of water | Supreme Court of the United States | 1982 |
| St. Louis v. Myers | Water: rights of landowners beside Mississippi River | Supreme Court of the United States | 1885 |
| Sterling v. Velsicol Chemical Corp | Water: disposal of waste from insecticide production | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | 1986, 1988 |
| Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Beaches: beach renourishment | Supreme Court of the United States | 2010 |
| Summers v. Earth Island Institute | Forests: sale of fire-damaged timber | Supreme Court of the United States | 2009 |
| Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency | Water: supply from Lake Tahoe Basin | Supreme Court of the United States | 2002 |
| Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill | Habitat: destruction by hydroelectric dams | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
| Tri-state water dispute | Water: supply from Lake Lanier | undecided | |
| Tuna-Dolphin GATT Case (I and II) | Marine biology: seine fishing | Panel of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and World Trade Organization | |
| United Haulers Assn. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Mgmt. Auth. | Cleanliness: interstate exportation of waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
| United States v. 50 Acres of Land | Land: compensation for replacing condemned landfill | Supreme Court of the United States | 1984 |
| United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins | Fisheries: shark finning | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 2008 |
| United States v. Dion | Wildlife: American Indians hunting eagles | Supreme Court of the United States | 1986 |
| United States v. Locke | Water: regulation of maritime activity | Supreme Court of the United States | 2000 |
| United States v. Riverside Bayview | Wetlands: placement of fill materials | Supreme Court of the United States | 1985 |
| United States v. SCRAP | Recycling: railroad freight rate | Supreme Court of the United States | 1973 |
| United States v. Weitzenhoff | Water: ocean dumping | Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals | |
| United States v. Winans | Fisheries: Americans using a fish wheel to catch salmon | Supreme Court of the United States | 1905 |
| Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. | General environment: rulemaking, and environmental effects of the uranium fuel cycle | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
| Ward v. Canada (Attorney General) | Fishing and hunting: catching seals and selling their pelts | Supreme Court of Canada | 2002 |
| Wheeler v Saunders Ltd | Aesthetics: smell from pig houses | Court of Appeal of England and Wales | 1994 |
| Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc. | Air: ozone and particulate matter | Supreme Court of the United States | 2001 |
| Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council | Biophony: navy sonar harming whales and other marine mammals | Supreme Court of the United States | 2008 |
| Winters v. United States | Water: rights of American Indians | Supreme Court of the United States | 1908 |
| Wisconsin v. Illinois | Water: supply from the Great Lakes | Supreme Court of the United States | 1929 |
| Wyoming v. Colorado | Water: supply from Laramie River | Supreme Court of the United States | 1922 |
| Yorta Yorta v Victoria | Land and water: rights of natives | Federal Court of Australia | 1998 |
Read more about this topic: List Of Environmental Lawsuits