In Conservation Law Foundation’s (CLF’s) citizen suit asserting that the owners and operators of a bulk fuel storage terminal in New Haven, Connecticut failed to prepare the facility for the impacts of climate change, the federal district court for the District of Connecticut denied the defendants’ motion to stay proceedings pending finalization of a new Connecticut general stormwater permit. The defendants argued that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (CT DEEP) 2024 draft permit introduced “Resilience Measures” as a “new” and “significant” climate consideration, thereby confirming that the prior permits never required the inclusion of climate risks in stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs). They claimed this regulatory development resolved the central dispute in CLF’s claims and warranted a pause in discovery to avoid unnecessary litigation costs.

The court rejected this reasoning, holding that the draft permit and its fact sheets did not indicate an overwhelming likelihood of success. The court highlighted that fact sheets are not the usual example of agency actions that are afforded deference. Moreover, the court emphasized that litigation costs alone do not constitute substantial prejudice sufficient to justify a stay, and that discovery was nearing completion with summary judgment briefing on the horizon. The court also found that Shell’s yearlong delay in seeking a stay—despite having access to the relevant draft language since early 2024—weighed against granting relief.

Additionally, the court denied as procedurally improper Shell’s omnibus motion to strike portions of CLF’s expert reports. The court also vacated a magistrate judge’s prior oral ruling denying Rule 37 discovery sanctions related to the defendants’ delayed disclosure of certain documents. The court said further record development was required to determine whether sanctions were warranted.

Citizen suit alleging failures to prepare a bulk storage and fuel terminal in New Haven, Connecticut for the effects of climate change.

Conservation Law Foundation v. Shell Oil Co.

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Connecticut Federal Court Denied Stay in Climate Adaptation Case Regarding New Haven Terminal

Filed

United States of America

Connecticut

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Connecticut Federal Court Denied Stay in Climate Adaptation Case Regarding New Haven Terminal

Fossil fuel

Adaptation/resilience