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Judicial Regrets And The Case Of The Cushman Dam, William H. Rodgers, Jr. Jan 2005

Judicial Regrets And The Case Of The Cushman Dam, William H. Rodgers, Jr.

Articles

This essay is a criticism of the Ninth Circuit's en banc decision in Skokomish Indian Tribe v. United States [401 F.3d 979 (9th Cir. 2005]. It finds particular fault with the court's understanding of Indian treaty rights as "something given," and its outlandish conclusion that fishing was not a "primary purpose" of the Stevens treaties.

The article further criticizes the court's treatment of the "continuing nuisance" doctrine that is applied to afford a statute of limitations defense to enterprises that did lasting environmental damage by diverting the entire North Fork of the Skokomish River out of the watershed.

It concludes …


The Exxon Valdez Reopener: Natural Resources Damage Settlements And Roads Not Taken, William H. Rodgers, Jr., J.B. Crosetto Iii, C.A. Holley, T.C. Kade, J.H. Kaufman, C.M. Kostelec, K.A. Michael, R.J. Sandberg, J.L. Schorr Jan 2005

The Exxon Valdez Reopener: Natural Resources Damage Settlements And Roads Not Taken, William H. Rodgers, Jr., J.B. Crosetto Iii, C.A. Holley, T.C. Kade, J.H. Kaufman, C.M. Kostelec, K.A. Michael, R.J. Sandberg, J.L. Schorr

Articles

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill caused extensive natural resource damage to the Prince William Sound. Lawsuits addressing this natural resource damage resulted in a settlement that required Exxon to pay $900 million over time to trustees charged with spending this money to restore the damaged environment of the Sound and nearby areas. The settlement included a “Reopener Clause,” which pledges Exxon to spend an additional $100 million to fund restoration or rehabilitation of resources whose injuries were not foreseeable in 1989.

This Article urges the State of Alaska and the United States to seek enforcement of the Reopener Clause, …