Environmental Group Granted Rehearing in Water Permit Challenge

The full First Circuit will reconsider a decision that blocked an environmental group from pursuing its water pollution suit against a Massachusetts developer.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit previously affirmed that Blackstone Headwaters Coalition Inc.'s claims under the Clean Water Act were barred because the state was prosecuting a related enforcement action. The group said in its lawsuit against Gallo Builders and Arboretum Village Estates that runoff from their construction site was entering a nearby stream.

The appeals court held in April that their claims for civil penalties were barred, as well as their claims for ...