Description: Citizen suit alleging failures to prepare a bulk storage and fuel terminal in New Haven, Connecticut for the effects of climate change.
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Conservation Law Foundation v. Shell Oil Co.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/06/2024 Letter Download Defendants submitted letter opposing plaintiffs' request regarding production of documents. 05/06/2024 Letter Download Letter submitted by plaintiff regarding whether defendants must produce certain documents. 03/29/2024 Ruling Download Plaintiff's motion to compel with discovery requestss granted in part and denied in part. In Suit About Climate Preparedness of New Haven Terminal, Connecticut Federal Court Said Shell Must Respond to Many of Plaintiff’s Narrowed Discovery Requests. In a citizen suit alleging that a bulk oil storage terminal on New Haven Harbor had not been prepared for the impacts of severe weather and climate change in violation of federal environmental laws, the federal district court for the District of Connecticut granted in part and denied in part plaintiff Conservation Law Foundation’s (CLF’s) motion to compel Shell Oil Co. to comply with 39 discovery requests. The court found that CLF had “reasonably tailored” its requests for information about what the defendants do at their other facilities by limiting the number of facilities to 15 and by only asking about coastal facilities that store petroleum in bulk and that have certain risk profiles. The court also found that the defendants did not support “undue burden” and “lack-of-proportionality” objections. The court said it was “simply implausible” that the defendants could not identify its “coastal” facilities or its bulk petroleum storage facilities and that, even if their systems were deficient, the defendants could not rely on “obsolescence” as a basis for undue burden or lack of proportionality. The court also said that the defendants’ arguments regarding the burdens of collecting and producing responsive information did not account for CLF’s narrowing of its requests. In addition, the court concluded that pre-2017 documents would be relevant to at least some claims. The court found that a request for one category of the defendants’ climate change assessments was facially overbroad and unduly burdensome but that requests for design standards and adaptation plans applicable to the New Haven terminal were not. 10/19/2023 Order Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment denied. Connecticut Federal Court Rejected Defendants’ Bid for Summary Judgment Dismissing Claims that General Permit Covering Terminal Required Consideration of Climate Change Risks. In a lawsuit claiming that Shell Oil Company and other defendants violated federal environmental statutes by failing to prepare a bulk storage and fuel terminal in New Haven for the effects of climate change, the federal district court for the District of Connecticut denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on nine claims premised on the contention that Connecticut’s General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activity required permittees to consider risk associated with climate change. The court concluded that the permit “unambiguously imposes a minimization duty” that incorporates “best industry practice” and that if best industry practice required consideration of climate change factors, then the permit would include such a requirement even in the absence of explicit language requiring it. The court found that it could not resolve this factual question at this time. In a separate order, the court encouraged the parties “to redouble their efforts to cooperate” on discovery rather than engage in motion practice. The court also encouraged the parties to return to a magistrate judge to consider settlement and also to consider whether they would consent to transfer of the case to a magistrate judge for all purposes, including a jury trial, to achieve greater scheduling certainty. 08/22/2023 Order Download Plaintiff's motion to compel granted in part and denied in part. The magistrate judge granted in part and denied in part CLF’s January 2023 motion to compel compliance with 75 requests interrogatories and requests for production. The magistrate judge generally agreed with CLF that the defendants’ knowledge of climate change risks was relevant but found that many of the requests seeking information on this topic were “grossly overbroad, unduly burdensome, and disproportionate.” 07/24/2023 Ruling Download Court denied defendants' motion to limit discovery while motion for partial summary judgment was pending. 07/14/2023 Opposition Download Plaintiffs filed opposition to defendants' motion for partial summary judgment. 06/13/2023 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum of law filed in support of defendants' motion for partial summary judgment. 06/13/2023 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum of law filed in support of defendants' motion for summary judgment. 06/13/2023 Statement Download Defendants filed statement of undisputed material facts. 04/27/2023 Opposition Download Defendants filed memorandum of law in opposition to plaintiff's motion to compel defendants' depositions and for sanctions and cross-motion for protective order on plaintiff's 30(b)(6) deposition topics and for sanctions. 03/27/2023 Motion Download Motion to compel filed by plaintiff. 01/20/2023 Motion Download CLF filed renewed motion to compel and accompanying memorandum of law. 09/16/2022 Ruling Download Motion to dismiss granted in part and denied in part. Connecticut Federal Court Largely Denied Motion to Dismiss Climate Adaptation Case Against Shell Oil Defendants. The federal district court for the District of Connecticut allowed Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) to proceed with claims under the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in its citizen suit alleging that Shell Oil Company and other defendants failed to prepare a bulk storage and fuel terminal in New Haven for the impacts of climate change. The court rejected the defendants’ argument that CLF did not have standing, finding that the complaint sufficiently alleged “near-term harms from foreseeable weather events” that were “not purely theoretical” and that were “fairly traceable” to defendants. The court found that the allegations established that CLF had standing to seek penalties for ongoing violations that could continue if undeterred. The court further found that the complaint alleged facts sufficient to assert Clean Water Act adaptation claims and also declined to dismiss CLF’s RCRA imminent and substantial endangerment claim. The court dismissed, however, two RCRA regulatory violation claims and also dismissed all claims against a former owner and operator except for the RCRA endangerment claim. The court declined to dismiss the non-owner/operator defendants, finding that “at this early stage” the complaint stated a plausible claim for direct liability. 08/24/2022 Motion Download Defendants filed memorandum of law in support of motion to compel Conservation Law Foundation's responses to defendants' first set of interrogatories and requests for production. 08/15/2022 Not Available Status conference held. The court denied Conservation Law Foundation's motion to compel because the parties expected that ongoing discovery, both in this case and in their District of Rhode Island case, would likely change the character and scope of the motion and might even obviate the need for it entirely. 08/15/2022 Order Conservation Law Foundation's motion to compel denied without prejudice. 08/12/2022 Status Report Download Joint status report filed. 08/01/2022 Order Conservation Law Foundation's motion to quash third party subpoenas denied. The court denied Conservation Law Foundation's (CLF's) motion to quash third party subpoenas. The court said CLF did not have standing to assert a burdensomeness objection and, moreover, had not supported such an objection. The court said it would not overrule the subpoena recipients' privilege objections at this time 07/27/2022 Motion Download Conservation Law Foundation filed motion to compel and accompanying memorandum of law. 07/22/2022 Motion Download Motion to quash third-party subpoenas filed by plaintiff. 07/22/2022 Motion Download Conservation Law Foundation filed motion to quash third party subpoenas. 05/29/2022 Order Case referred to a magistrate judge to determine whether settlement discussions would be productive and to conduct such discussions if the magistrate judge believes they would be productive; next status report due August 26, 2022. 05/27/2022 Status Report Download Joint status report filed. 04/01/2022 Reply Download Reply memorandum filed in support of motion to dismiss. 03/18/2022 Opposition Download Opposition to motion to dismiss filed. 03/01/2022 Order Download Scheduling plan and case management order issued. 02/27/2022 Order Motion to transfer denied. 02/25/2022 Motion to Dismiss Download Memorandum of law filed in support of defendants' motion to dismiss amended complaint. 02/16/2022 Reply Download Reply filed in support of defendants' motion to transfer. 02/15/2022 Order Download Motion to dismiss complaint denied as moot in light of filing of amended complaint. 02/11/2022 Complaint Download Amended complaint filed. 02/04/2022 Opposition Download Opposition filed by Conservation Law Foundation to defendants' motion to transfer. 01/25/2022 Motion Download Motion to transfer in accordance with Local Rule 40(b)(2) due to a related case (Conservation Law Foundation v. Gulf Oil LP (No. 3:21-cv-00932)). 01/21/2022 Motion to Dismiss Download Memorandum of law filed in support of defendants' motion to dismiss complaint. 01/21/2022 Not Available Download Joint Rule 26(f) report of parties' planning meeting filed. 07/07/2021 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Two New Citizen Suits Asserted Failure to Prepare Fuel Terminals for Climate Change. On July 7, 2021, Conservation Law Foundation filed two citizen suits asserting that the defendants’ bulk storage and fuel terminals in New Haven, Connecticut violated the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The complaints alleged that the defendants had not designed, maintained, modified, or operated their terminals to account for “the numerous effects of climate change,” including sea-level rise and more frequent and more severe storms. Conservation Law Foundation sought declaratory and injunctive relief, civil penalties, environmental restoration and compensatory mitigation, and costs of litigation, including attorney and expert witness fees.