The Supreme Court kicked off its new term Monday by asking the Trump administration to weigh in on a dispute over whether state or federal law governs where parties can sue for damages caused by nuclear waste.
But the court otherwise rejected an array of petitions asking it to resolve legal fights over water pollution and carbon markets, as well as a renewed bid to block a massive copper mine in Arizona.
In a long list of orders issued Monday, the justices asked Solicitor General D. John Sauer to weigh in on which court should address liability for alleged injuries from radioactive materials. The case, Cotter v. Mazzocchio, asks the justices to review a 2024 ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which broke from other appellate courts, finding that a federal judge must apply substantive state law decisions.
The dispute comes after sisters Nikki Mazzocchio and Angela Kraus alleged that nuclear materials handled decades ago by the New Mexico-based company Cotter had contaminated a creek near their home and given them cancer.
