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| Photo by Dave Einsel |
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SUE SHELL OIL COMPANY FOR CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATIONS AT DEER PARK, TEXAS, REFINERY AND CHEMICAL PLANT
NELC has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Houston against Shell Oil Company and several affiliates. The suit, filed on behalf of Environment Texas and Sierra Club, is the first case in Texas in which citizen groups are suing solely to stop illegal air emissions arising from so-called “upset” events. The suit claims that Shell has repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act at its Deer Park, Texas, oil refinery and chemical plant, resulting in the release of millions of pounds of excess air pollutants over the past five years, including toxic chemicals such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene. More.
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| Photo by Joel Neatrour |
PENNSYLVANIA POWER PLANT IS TARGET OF CLEAN WATER ACT SUIT
On April 10, 2007, NELC attorneys filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Pittsburgh against Reliant Energy, the multi-billion dollar energy company that owns and operates a coal-burning power plant on the banks of the Conemaugh River in West Wheatfield, Pa. Representing PennEnvironment and Sierra Club, NELC is suing Reliant for persistent violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law. The suit charges that Reliant Energy is discharging illegal levels of toxic metals, including selenium and boron, into the Conemaugh River. More.
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| Photo by Sean D. Elliot. |
BRADFORD DYEING ASSOCIATION BRINGS POLLUTION CONTROLS INTO 21st CENTURY
Two years after the Bradford Dyeing Association textile mill was placed on the “Dirty Dozen” list of New England’s worst polluters, three environmental groups won a groundbreaking settlement to enforce the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act and halt the facility’s pollution of the Pawcatuck River and the surrounding community in Westerly, Rhode Island.
In November 2006, Chief Judge Ernest C. Torres of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island signed a consent decree negotiated by NELC attorneys. Within six months, Bradford Dyeing Association fulfilled most of its obligations under the consent decree, and the air and water pollution control systems at the 95-year-old textile finishing plant have been transformed. More.
PACIFIC SEAFOOD AGREES TO COMPLY WITH
CLEAN WATER ACT AFTER DECADES OF VIOLATIONS
After four years of fighting a losing battle in a Clean Water Act enforcement suit, Pacific Seafood Group, the third largest seafood company in North America, has agreed to remedy illegal pollutant discharges at its seafood processing facility in Warrenton, Oregon. Under a consent order negotiated by NELC attorneys and approved by U.S. District Judge Ancer L. Haggerty, the company has pledged to make no further wastewater discharges to the Skipanon River, to implement numerous measures to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act in future discharges to the Columbia River, and to pay $200,000 to the Skipanon River Watershed Council to remediate the effects of past pollution.More.
NELC CHALLENGES CLEAN WATER ACT EXEMPTION FOR AQUATIC PESTICIDES
In 2004 and 2005, two of the largest blueberry companies in Maine agreed to stop the aerial spraying of pesticides in response to a notice of intent to sue served by NELC attorneys under the Clean Water Act. In response to these and other cases, the pesticide industry convinced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue a rule that significantly curtails the use of the Clean Water Act to control pesticides. Because the application of pesticides to lakes, streams, rivers, and bays can pose real risks to aquatic life and human health, NELC lawyers have joined with other environmental and public health groups to challenge this rule in the federal courts. More.
NELC FILES PETITION TO REGULATE WATER INTAKE STRUCTURES
Industrial facilities withdraw billions of gallons of water each day from rivers, lakes, oceans and estuaries in order to control the temperatures of various industrial processes. Without proper technology, these structures will continue to kill aquatic organisms. The EPA has decided against setting environmental standards that would protect fish from being killed by intake structures.
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NELC WORKS TO ENSURE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
NELC, along with over a dozen citizen groups, successfully opposed a proposed court rule that would have made it more difficult for public interest groups—but not business interests—to challenge federal agency actions in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. More.
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