Lawsuit(s) | Environmental asset(s) and subject(s) of lawsuit(s) | Court(s) of decision(s) | Year(s) of decision(s) |
A-G v Geothermal Produce | General environment: pollution from pesticide spray | Court of Appeal of New Zealand | 1987 |
Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. EPA | Air: authority to overrule state decisions about technology | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
Aldred's Case | Aesthetics: smell from pig sty | | 1610 |
Allison, et al. v. ExxonMobil Corp, et al. | Land and aquifers: gasoline leak from service station | | 2009 |
Amchem Products Inc. v. British Columbia (Workers' Compensation Board) | Workplace: asbestos | Supreme Court of Canada | 1993 |
American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut | Climate: greenhouse gas emissions | Supreme Court of the United States | 2011 |
Anderson v. Cryovac | Water: toxic contamination | United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | 1986 |
Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. | General environment: production and disposal of nuclear fuel | Supreme Court of the United States | 1983 |
Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC | Crop of peanuts: damage by pesticide | Supreme Court of the United States | 2005 |
Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co. | Aesthetics: dirt, smoke, and vibration | New York Court of Appeals | 1970 |
Burmah Oil Co. v Lord Advocate | Oil fields: destruction during World War II | Courts of Scotland | 1965 |
Cardwell v. American Bridge Co. | Waterways: common highways | Supreme Court of the United States | 1885 |
Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia | Recycling: bottle deposit | High Court of Australia | 1990 |
Central Green Co. v. United States | Land: meaning of "flood or flood waters" | Supreme Court of the United States | 2001 |
Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt | Cleanliness: interstate importation fee for disposal of hazardous waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. | Air: emissions from new equipment and total emissions from plant | Supreme Court of the United States | 1984 |
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe | Parkland: highway routing | Supreme Court of the United States | 1971 |
City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey | Cleanliness: interstate importation of waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
Climate change litigation and the California Environmental Quality Act | General environment: climate change | | |
Cline v. American Aggregates Corporation | Water in aquifer: pollution | Supreme Court of Ohio | 1984 |
Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council | Water: gold mine waste disposal in Lower Slate Lake | Supreme Court of the United States | 2009 |
Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States | Water: supply | Supreme Court of the United States | 1976 |
Commonwealth v Tasmania | Water: hydroelectric dam on Gordon River | High Court of Australia | 1983 |
Compagnie Francaise de Navigation a Vapeur v. Louisiana Board of Health | General environment: quarantine | Supreme Court of the United States | 1902 |
Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen | Air: pollution from international transport | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
Dolan v. City of Tigard | Land: paving a parking lot, and providing a greenway and a pedestrian and bicycle pathway | Supreme Court of the United States | 1994 |
Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group | Workplace: nuclear accidents | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
Edwards v National Coal Board | Land: preventing accidental rock fall in coal mine | | 1949 |
Entergy v. Riverkeeper | Water: cooling water intakes for power plants | Supreme Court of the United States | 2009 |
Environment Agency v Clark | Land: compliance with landfill licence terms | | |
Environmental Defence Society v New Zealand King Salmon | General environment: salmon farming | Supreme Court of New Zealand | 2014 |
Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corporation | Air: emissions in relation to modifications to power plants | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
Ernst v. EnCana Corporation, 2013 ABQB 537 | Aquifer: contamination from hydraulic fracturing | | |
Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker | Water and land: compensation for victims of oil spill | Supreme Court of the United States | 2008 |
Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation | Water: hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls | Supreme Court of the United States | 1960 |
Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. | Water: industrial pollution of North Tyger River | Supreme Court of the United States | 2000 |
Gade v. National Solid Wastes Management Association | Workplace: hazardous waste materials | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
Geer v. Connecticut | Wildlife: interstate transportation of wild fowl | Supreme Court of the United States | 1896 |
Gillingham Borough Council v Medway (Chatham) Dock Co Ltd | Soundscape: noise pollution | High Court of Justice | 1992 |
Greenpeace v. Eni | General environment: climate change | Civil Court of Rome | 2024 |
Hadacheck v. Sebastian | Aesthetics: pollution from manufacture of clay bricks | Supreme Court of the United States | 1915 |
Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests) | Forests: duty to consult Aboriginal groups before exploiting resources | Supreme Court of Canada | 2004 |
Stephanie Hallowich, H/W, v. Range Resources Corporation | General environment: pollution from hydraulic fracturing | Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Civil Division) | 2011 |
Hanousek v. United States | Water and land: oil spill from ruptured pipeline | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 1999 |
Held v. Montana | Effect of climate change on youth | First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, Montana; Montana Supreme Court | 2023-2024 |
Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC v. Salazar | Water: offshore drilling | United States federal courts | ongoing |
Hughes v. Oklahoma | Wildlife: federal legislation | Supreme Court of the United States | 1979 |
Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois | Submerged land: construction by railroad company | Supreme Court of the United States | 1892 |
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. v. American Cyanamid Co. | Land and water: acrylonitrile spilled from train | United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | 1990 |
Industrial Union Department v. American Petroleum Institute | Workplace: exposure to benzene | Supreme Court of the United States | 1980 |
Interprovincial Cooperatives v. The Queen | Water: interprovincial river pollution | Supreme Court of Canada | 1975 |
Kansas v. Colorado | | Supreme Court of the United States | 1902, 1907, 1943, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2009 |
Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corporation | Climate: destruction of a community by climate change | United States federal courts | 2009 |
Kleppe v. New Mexico | Wildlife: horses and burros | Supreme Court of the United States | 1976 |
Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District | Wetlands: development and mitigation | Supreme Court of the United States | 2013 |
Kruger and al. v. The Queen | Wildlife: hunting of deer by Aboriginals out of season | Supreme Court of Canada | 1978 |
Kvikk case | Electromagnetic radiation: congenital disorders | | |
Lighthiser v. Trump | Air: Donald Trump executive orders promoting fossil fuels | U.S. District Court, District of Montana | 2025 |
Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. NRDC | Water: pollution from stormwater | Supreme Court of the United States | 2013 |
Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council | Coastland: erecting homes | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife | Wildlife: geographical limits of a section of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association | Forests: road building and timber harvesting | Supreme Court of the United States | 1988 |
M. C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath | Water and land: land encroachment causing swelling of Beas River and washing away of land | Supreme Court of India | 1997 |
M. C. Mehta v. Union of India | Air: pollution causing a hazard to community of Delhi | Supreme Court of India | |
Maine v. Taylor | Fisheries: interstate importation of fish | Supreme Court of the United States | 1986 |
Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency | Air: regulation of greenhouse gases | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
McCastle v. Rollins Environmental Services | General environment: disposal of hazardous waste | | 1987 |
McLaren v. Caldwell | Waterways: common highways | Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | 1884 |
Metropolitan Edison Co. v. People Against Nuclear Energy | General environment: restarting reactor | Supreme Court of the United States | 1983 |
Missouri v. Holland | Wildlife: hunting migratory waterfowl | Supreme Court of the United States | 1920 |
Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railway Company of Texas v. Clay May | Land: weed propagation | Supreme Court of the United States | 1904 |
Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser | Farmland: deliberate propagation of canola contaminated by genetically modified organisms | Supreme Court of Canada | 2004 |
Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms | Farmland: genetically modified alfalfa | Supreme Court of the United States | 2010 |
Montreal (City) v. 2952-1366 Québec Inc. | Soundscape: invasive music | Supreme Court of Canada | 2005 |
Morrison v. Olson | Land: Superfund law regarding hazardous waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1988 |
National Assn. of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife | Water and wildlife: granting state authority over anti-pollution statutes | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
National Audubon Society v. Superior Court | Water: supply from Mono Lake | Supreme Court of California | 1983 |
New Jersey v. Delaware | Water: liquefied natural gas pipeline | Supreme Court of the United States | 2008 |
New York v. United States | General environment: disposal of radioactive waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1992 |
Newfoundland and Labrador v. AbitibiBowater Inc. | Land: remediation of expropriated mill property | Supreme Court of Canada | 2012 |
Nollan v. California Coastal Commission | Coastland: erecting a house, and providing a public easement | Supreme Court of the United States | 1987 |
North Shore City Council v Auckland Regional Council | Water in Auckland Region: urban development | Environment Court of New Zealand | 1996 |
Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance | Wilderness: preservation | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
Nulyarimma v Thompson | Water: mining company draining Lake Eyre | Federal Court of Australia | 1999 |
Operation Dismantle v. The Queen | General environment: military tests increasing risk or nuclear war | Supreme Court of Canada | 1985 |
Oregon Waste Systems, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Quality of Oregon | Cleanliness: interstate disposal of waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1994 |
Overseas Hibakusha Case | Electromagnetic radiation at natural levels: health-care benefits for hibakusha | Supreme Court of Japan | 1957, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1995, 2003, 2005 |
Palazzolo v. Rhode Island | Wetlands: development | Supreme Court of the United States | 2001 |
Palila v. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources | Wildlife: introduced species (goats and sheep) | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 1981 |
Partridge v Crittenden | Wildlife: advertising brambling cocks and hens | Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales | 1968 |
People v. the Brooklyn Cooperage Company | Forests: logging in Adirondack Park | New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division | 1906 |
PUD No. 1 of Jefferson County v. Washington Department of Ecology | Water: hydroelectric power from Dosewallips River | Supreme Court of the United States | 1994 |
R v Stephens | Water: quarry refuse dumped into river | Queen's Bench Division | 1866 |
R (Jackson) v Attorney General | Wildlife: hunting foxes and hares | House of Lords of the United Kingdom | 2005, 2006 |
R. v. Badger | Wildlife: hunting by Aboriginals on private land | Supreme Court of Canada | 1996 |
R. v. City of Sault Ste-Marie | Water: locating a waste disposal site near a stream | Supreme Court of Canada | 1978 |
R. v. Crown Zellerbach Canada Ltd. | Water: ocean dumping | Supreme Court of Canada | 1988 |
R. v. Hydro-Québec | Water: dumping polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the St. Maurice River | Supreme Court of Canada | 1997 |
R. v. Jim | Wildlife: hunting by Aboriginals on Indian reserves | British Columbia Supreme Court | 1915 |
R. v. Van der Peet | Fisheries: Aboriginal fishing rights extending to selling | Supreme Court of Canada | 1996 |
Rapanos v. United States | Wetlands: filling with sand | Supreme Court of the United States | 2006 |
Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation | Wildlife: irrigation damaging endangered species | U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals | 2010 |
Rylands v Fletcher | Water and land: reservoir flooding adjacent land | House of Lords of the United Kingdom | 1868 |
Ryuichi Shimoda v. The State | General environment: atomic bombs damaging Hiroshima and Nagasaki | District Court of Tokyo | 1963 |
S. D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection | Water: hydroelectric dams discharging into Presumpscot River | Supreme Court of the United States | 2006 |
Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. The City of Manhattan Beach | General environment: plastic bags | Supreme Court of California | 2011 |
Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission | Aesthetics and conservation: construction of power plant | United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | 1965 |
Sierra Club v. Babbitt | Endangered species: high-density housing | United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama | 1998 |
Sierra Club v. Morton | Parkland: development | Supreme Court of the United States | 1972 |
Slaughter-House Cases | Water: slaughterhouse waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 1873 |
Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook Cty. v. Army Corps of Engineers | Water: waste disposal | Supreme Court of the United States | 2001 |
South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee Tribe | Wetlands (Everglades): pollution from storm water in canal | Supreme Court of the United States | 2004 |
Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas | Water: exportation of water | Supreme Court of the United States | 1982 |
St Catharines Milling and Lumber Co v R | Forests: land title | Judicial Committee of the Privy Council | 1888 |
St. Louis v. Myers | Water: rights of landowners beside Mississippi River | Supreme Court of the United States | 1885 |
Sterling v. Velsicol Chemical Corp | Water: disposal of waste from insecticide production | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | 1986, 1988 |
Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Beaches: beach renourishment | Supreme Court of the United States | 2010 |
Summers v. Earth Island Institute | Forests: sale of fire-damaged timber | Supreme Court of the United States | 2009 |
Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency | Water: supply from Lake Tahoe Basin | Supreme Court of the United States | 2002 |
Teitiota v Chief Executive Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment | Environment of Kiribati: climate change and immigration | Court of Appeal of New Zealand | 2014 |
Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill | Habitat: destruction by hydroelectric dams | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
Tri-state water dispute | Water: supply from Lake Lanier | | undecided |
Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia | Forests: land title | Supreme Court of Canada | 2014 |
Tuna-Dolphin GATT Case (I and II) | Marine biology: seine fishing | Panel of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and World Trade Organization | |
United Haulers Assn. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Mgmt. Auth. | Cleanliness: interstate exportation of waste | Supreme Court of the United States | 2007 |
United States v. 50 Acres of Land | Land: compensation for replacing condemned landfill | Supreme Court of the United States | 1984 |
United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins | Fisheries: shark finning | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 2008 |
United States v. Bestfoods | Land: pollution from chemical manufacturing plant | Supreme Court of the United States | 1998 |
United States v. Dion | Wildlife: American Indians hunting eagles | Supreme Court of the United States | 1986 |
United States v. Locke | Water: regulation of maritime activity | Supreme Court of the United States | 2000 |
United States v. Reserve Mining Company | Water (Lake Superior): tailings (i.e., mine waste) | United States district court in Minneapolis | 1974 |
United States v. Riverside Bayview | Wetlands: placement of fill materials | Supreme Court of the United States | 1985 |
United States v. SCRAP | Recycling: railroad freight rate | Supreme Court of the United States | 1973 |
United States v. Washington | Fisheries: rights of Native Americans | United States District Court for the Western District of Washington | 1974 |
United States v. Weitzenhoff | Water: ocean dumping | Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals | 1993 |
United States v. Winans | Fisheries: Americans using a fish wheel to catch salmon | Supreme Court of the United States | 1905 |
Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency | Air: regulation of greenhouse gas emissions | United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia | 2012 |
Vatican Radio lawsuit | Electromagnetic radiation: health effects from non-ionizing radiation | | |
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. | General environment: rulemaking, and environmental effects of the uranium fuel cycle | Supreme Court of the United States | 1978 |
Verstappen v Port Edward Town Board | General environment: waste disposal | Durban and Coast Local Division | 1993 |
Ward v. Canada (Attorney General) | Fishing and hunting: catching seals and selling their pelts | Supreme Court of Canada | 2002 |
West Virginia v. EPA | Clean power plan issues | U.S. Court of Appeals | 2022 |
Wheeler v Saunders Ltd | Aesthetics: smell from pig houses | Court of Appeal of England and Wales | 1994 |
Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc. | Air: ozone and particulate matter | Supreme Court of the United States | 2001 |
Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council | Biophony: navy sonar harming whales and other marine mammals | Supreme Court of the United States | 2008 |
Winters v. United States | Water: rights of American Indians | Supreme Court of the United States | 1908 |
Wisconsin v. Illinois | Water: supply from the Great Lakes | Supreme Court of the United States | 1929 |
Wyoming v. Colorado | Water: supply from Laramie River | Supreme Court of the United States | 1922 |
Yorta Yorta v Victoria | Land and water: rights of natives | Federal Court of Australia | 1998 |