Supreme Court Notebook

 U.S. justices let stand massive W.Va. settlement 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of Monsanto Co.’s massive settlement with thousands of West Virginia residents.

In an order Monday, justices said they would not review the $93 million settlement reached in the lawsuit. The Charleston Gazette said that means thousands of Nitro-area residents are closer to receiving medical monitoring and having their property cleaned up.
 
In November, the West Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a January 2013 ruling approving the class-action settlement. The lawsuit alleged that the Nitro community was contaminated with dioxin from the former Monsanto chemical plant.

The plaintiffs said Monsanto polluted their community by burning waste from production of the defoliant Agent Orange.

Under the settlement, thousands of Nitro-area residents will be eligible for the medical monitoring and property cleanups.
 

Michigan energy company’s case at US Supreme Court 

ALAIEDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A Lansing-area energy company is involved in a U.S. Supreme Court that considers the requirements for transferring class-action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts.

The justices on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. It’s a unit of Dart Oil & Gas Corp., based near Mason in Ingham County’s Alaiedon Township.

Dart Oil & Gas says it should be allowed to move a class-action case from Kansas state court to federal court. Federal law allows such transfers in cases involving more than $5 million.

Dart Oil & Gas says on its website that it operates 151 wells in Michigan and has a majority interest in and operates more than 700 wells in the Cherokee Basin in Kansas.