RADON MITIGATION isn’t usually top of mind when builders plan to build a house or when home sellers put out their “For Sale” sign. It’s not visible or noticeable to the average person, but it’s real and it’s ubiquitous. Iowa is prone to high levels of radon, an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas that naturally occurs [...]
You often hear about environmental sites that are required to be cleaned up. However, an Iowa Supreme Court case specifically addresses the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' ("DNR") ability to force cleanup of sites that do not pose a hazardous condition. In First Iowa State Bank v. Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources, 502 N.W.2d 164, [...]
Today the EPA issued new standards limiting mercury, acid gases, and other toxic pollutants from power plants. A fact sheet is available here. Essentially, the standards seek to eliminate 90% of mercury and air toxics from power plant emissions by year 2016. I will provide an update setting forth how the rule will be implemented.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion today that could potentially limit corporate liability in environmental cleanup cases. Under Superfund, the Federal Policy that directs the cleanup and cost recovery for abandoned contaminated toxic waste sites, the Federal government undertakes expensive and time-consuming cleanup efforts. Since there were no Federal environmental laws until the 1970's, many of these [...]
