Success Stories
In a significant victory for longtime B&D client Waste Connections, the Eastern District of Louisiana denied class certification in a high-stakes odor nuisance action concerning the Jefferson Parish Landfill. Ictech-Bendeck v. Waste Connections Bayou, Inc. The Waste Connections defendants successfully opposed a sprawling proposed class, which sought to represent residents over a 42-square-mile area alleging odor nuisances spanning 30 months.
This decisive win caps nearly seven years of litigation on the class issues and underscores the importance of strategic opposition to class certification in complex environmental nuisance actions.
B&D defended BNSF Railway in the largest environmental citizen suit, by dollars of relief sought, in U.S. history. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and a host of local environmental groups sued BNSF in federal district court in Seattle. In a case of first impression, Plaintiffs sought to limit the rail transportation of coal by seeking Clean Water Act (CWA) penalties for alleged fugitive coal dust from all rail cars and trains. The statutory maximum penalty under the CWA for the allegations in the complaint was more than $3 trillion. One week into the trial, parties reached a settlement that included a $1 million supplemental environmental project, a non-binding coal car study, and no admission of liability.
