Judge:  Groups Can Pursue Claim Only Over Company’s Mercury Discharges

Mealey's (March 27, 2020, 1:46 PM EDT) -- WHEELING, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia on March 24 ruled that two environmental groups can pursue a Clean Water Act (CWA) claim that a company’s discharges of mercury into the Ohio River exceed levels of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, finding that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is not diligently pursuing an action against the defendant company’s predecessor following the entry of a 2013 consent decree (Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al. v. Eagle Natrium LLC, No. 19-CV-236, N.D. W.Va., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51247)....