Ninth Circuit Vacates Large Attorney Fees Award in Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals

Here are the materials:

Pakootas Brief

State of Washington Brief

Teck Cominco Brief

CA9 Unpublished Opinion

The attorney fees award, I believe, is discussed here.

Court Dismisses Teck Camino Counterclaim against Colville

Here is the opinion in Pakootas v. Teck Camino (E.D. Wash.) in which the court dismisses counterclaims by the polluter (Teck Camino) against one of the plaintiffs (the Colville Confederated Tribes) on grounds that tribes cannot be liable under CERCLA — DCT Order Dismissing Teck Camino Counterclaims

Here are the briefs:

Colville Motion to Dismiss Counterclaims

Teck Camino Response to Motion to Dismiss

Colville Reply re Motion to Dismiss

Pakootas v. Teck Camino District Court Order on Attorney Fees

A million bucks is pretty significant…. pakootas-atty-fees-dct-order

(H/T Indianz)

Case Note on Trail Smelter (Pakootas v. Teck Camino)

The Harvard Environmental Law Review published a case note on the Trail Smelter case, Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd. The Supreme Court will decide shortly whether or not the hear the case, though the Solicitor General has argued in favor of a denial of cert. The case involves water pollution of tribal waters at Colville by a Canadian smelter.