Media Coverage
Source: Law360, Bloomberg BNA
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
07.27.16
Canadian resources company Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. has emerged victorious in its bid to dismiss air pollution claims brought under the federal Superfund statute. A team of Pillsbury lawyers representing Teck successfully argued that there was no statutory authority allowing the plaintiffs to bring their claims.
According to Law360, the state of Washington and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation sued Teck more than a decade ago under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, first claiming that discharges into the Columbia River by one of the company’s smelters in British Columbia had polluted a site in Washington. Two years ago, the plaintiffs were permitted by a federal district court in Washington to add new claims alleging that the site had also been impacted by airborne emissions from the smelter, with the emissions being blown by wind and eventually settling on the site in Washington.
The resources company appealed the district court’s 2014 ruling, and the Ninth Circuit this week unanimously reversed it, citing Ninth Circuit precedents supporting Teck’s position.
Teck is represented by Environmental and Litigation partners Christopher McNevin, Kevin Fong, Tom Campbell, and Mark Elliot; counsel Amanda Halter; special counsel Amy Gaylord; and attorney Jack Reynolds.
Read Law360’s full coverage of the Ninth Circuit ruling here (subscription required).