Disclaimer

The information on this website is presented as a service for our clients and Internet users and is not intended to be legal advice, nor should you consider it as such. Although we welcome your inquiries, please keep in mind that merely contacting us will not establish an attorney-client relationship between us. Consequently, you should not convey any confidential information to us until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established. Please remember that electronic correspondence on the internet is not secure and that you should not include sensitive or confidential information in messages. With that in mind, we look forward to hearing from you.

 Skip to Content

Companies Learn Lesson About Meeting Water Permit Conditions
March 08, 2017

Carlton Fields Miami Shareholder Neal McAliley  was quoted in the Bloomberg BNA article “Companies Learn Lesson About Meeting Water Permit Conditions.” The article discusses how a West Virginia coal company learned you can’t just do what is required under the Clean Water Act permit, but you also have to ensure that the water discharged meets water quality standards.

McAliley shared:

The Fourth Circuit ruling doesn’t represent a major shift in law related to Clean Water Act liability, but it does show how the environmental groups have “exploited” of the “catchall provision” in the discharge permit. I wouldn’t be surprised to find an increase in lawsuits rooted in this provision, but the burden is on the plaintiff to prove that the discharges do cause or contribute to a violation of water quality standards. And that won’t be possible in every case. Permit seekers must seek very precise language in their discharge permits going forward to guard against liability.

READ the article. (Subscription required for full access).
Featuring
Image: Neal McAliley
Neal McAliley
Related Practices
Environmental Regulation & Litigation