List of environmental lawsuits that concern the well-being of an environmental asset, like water or air, or lawsuits with environmental relevance, in which a non-environmental entity was in a dispute that had relevance for a specific environmental asset. This list of environmental law cases spans several centuries and lawsuits all over the world. The most popular common subjects of eco lawsuits include water, wildlife, and land pollution, protection, and access rights. Environmental laws can be complicated as environmental assets can impact more than just the jurisdictions in which they lay. Water, oil, air, and forest and coastlands are frequently in dispute as private citizens, local communities, special interest groups, and the federal government debate how to treat them.
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Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. EPA
2004 - Air: authority to overrule state decisions about technology, US2
Aldred's Case
1610 - Aesthetics: smell from pig sty3
Amchem Products Inc. v. British Columbia Worker's Compensation Board
1993 - Workplace: asbestos, Supreme Court of Canada4
American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut
2011 - Climate: greenhouse gas emissions, US5
Anderson v. Cryovac
Water: toxic contamination6
Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
1983 - General environment: production and disposal of nuclear fuel, US7
Burmah Oil Co. v Lord Advocate
1965 - Oil fields: destruction during World War II, Scotland8
Cardwell v. American Bridge Co.
1885 - Waterways: common highways, US9
1990 - Recycling: bottle deposit, Australia10
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt
1992 - Cleanliness: interstate importation fee for disposal of hazardous waste, US11
Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
1984 - Air: emissions from new equipment and total emissions from plant, US12
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe
1971 - Parkland: highway routing, US13
City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey
1978 - Cleanliness: interstate importation of waste, US14
Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
2009 - Water: gold mine waste disposal in Lower Slate Lake, US15
1976 - Water: supply, US16
Commonwealth v Tasmania
1983 - Water: hydroelectric dam on Gordon River, Australia17
Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen
2004 - Air: pollution from international transport, US18
Dolan v. City of Tigard
1994 - Land: paving a parking lot, and providing a greenway and a pedestrian and bicycle pathway, US19
Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group
1978 - Workplace: nuclear accidents, US20
Edwards v. National Coal Board
1949 - Land: preventing accidental rock fall in coal mine21
Entergy v. Riverkeeper
2009 - Water: cooling water intakes for power plants, US22
Environment Agency v Clark
Land: compliance with landfill licence terms23
Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker
2008 - Water and land: compensation for victims of oil spill, US24
Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation
1960 - Water: hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, US25
Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc.
2000 - Water: industrial pollution of North Tyger River, US