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Press Release March 27, 2024

Community Groups Reach Legal Settlement with KIUC, State on West Kaua‘i Hydro Project

Pō‘ai Wai Ola and Nā Kia‘i Kai raised concerns about the energy project’s impact on the Waimea River

Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette collects water samples in the Cape Fear River near the Smithfield slaughter house in Tar Heel, N.C. (Justin Cook for Earthjustice)
Press Release March 26, 2024

Community, Environmental, and Animal Welfare Organizations Press EPA to Strengthen Water Pollution Control Standards for Slaughterhouses and Animal Rendering Facilities

Stronger standards would prevent hundreds of millions of pounds of pollution from reaching rivers and streams, helping to protect more than 22 million people

document March 26, 2024

EPA Comments: Slaughterhouse Clean Water Act Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for MPP Point Source Category

Inadequately controlled water pollution from slaughterhouses and rendering facilities can make water unsafe for drinking, unfit for outdoor recreation, and uninhabitable for aquatic life, posing serious risks to human health and the environment, especially in vulnerable and under-resourced communities. After more than two decades, EPA finally has begun the process of strengthening water pollution control standards for these facilities, and the Agency now proposes to adopt the weakest of three regulatory options. EPA’s preferred option is inconsistent with the CWA and other federal laws.

Natural gas well pads, pipelines, and other associated infrastructure in the Upper Green River Basin in Wyoming. Once home to pristine, clean air and very little industrial activity, emissions from oil and gas production in this area now lead to unhealthy levels of smog. (Ecoflight)
Press Release: Victory March 25, 2024

Court Rules 2022 Wyoming Oil and Gas Lease Sale Was Illegal

Wyoming sale was one of the largest oil and gas lease sales held on public lands

In the News: Rhode Island Current March 21, 2024

As feds stand down, states choose between wetlands protections or rollbacks

Julian Gonzalez, Senior Legislative Counsel, Policy & Legislation: “It’s unfortunate that the state legislature tried to lock in the damage done by Sackett, but there are still things that can be done in places where a governor is more interested in environmental protection than polluter profits.”

Fishing skiffs tied up on the riverbank along the Kuskokwim River in the village of Akiachak, Alaska. (Design Pics Inc / Alamy)
Update March 19, 2024

Alaska Native Communities Are Standing up to a Gold Mine

Represented by Earthjustice, six Tribes are challenging the proposed Donlin Mine project in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

document March 18, 2024

Comments: NYS-DEC/Saratoga Biochar Air State Facility Permit

A group of more than 70 state and nationwide organizations and coalitions led by the Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls has submitted comments to NYS-Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) opposing permits and approvals for the proposed Saratoga Biochar Solutions LLC facility in the Town of Moreau.

Protestors paddle next to the Mackinac Bridge at the Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla Against the Line 5 pipeline in Mackinaw City, Michigan. (Sarah Rice for Earthjustice)
Article March 15, 2024

The Great Lakes Are Under Threat. A New Film Tells the Story of the Fight to Save Them.

The Line 5 pipeline has leaked over 1 million gallons of oil to date and threatens the Great Lakes.

Andrew Rehn, right, of the Prairie Rivers Network and Lan Richart of Eco-Justice Collaborative paddle past toxic coal ash waste seepage on Illinois' Vermilion River in 2018. (Tribune Content Agency LLC / Alamy Stock Photo)
Press Release March 14, 2024

Appellate Court Affirms Illinois’ Strong Coal Ash Protections, Rejecting Coal Company Attacks

Community advocates urge Illinois EPA to swiftly enforce rules

In the News: Indiana Public Radio March 13, 2024

Pines residents, activists worry coal ash cleanup standard for soil based on flawed data

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “It may result in very few properties being cleaned up if that [natural level of arsenic] standard is set artificially high.”

In the News: Energy News Network March 12, 2024

Parsing legal definitions, power industry pushes back on EPA coal ash enforcement

Gavin Kearney, Deputy Managing Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “The whole overarching point (of the federal rules) is that groundwater contamination is a big problem; it’s really unsafe, and we have to prevent it. You can’t let water in (to a coal ash impoundment); you can’t let water out; you can’t let water just sit inside…

In the News: Fort Myers News-Press March 8, 2024

Wetlands permitting battle continues, state expected to appeal federal ruling

Bonnie Malloy, Attorney, Florida Office: “The trigger for (the state) to file an appeal hasn’t happened yet because the court hasn’t rendered a final judgment yet. This is something developers sought because they could get permits quicker than when they go through the (U.S. Army) Corps process, but there were several illegal shortcuts they took…

In the News: The Detroit Metro Times March 8, 2024

Tribes urge U.S. to weigh in on Line 5 case as appeal sits in court

Stefanie Tsosie, Attorney, Tribal Partnerships Program: “It’s a band-aid for an aging pipeline. The risk of an oil spill will still exist in the Bad River watershed. And instead of moving it out of the watershed, [Enbridge moves] it upstream of the reservation. So now the entire reservation would be subject to an oil spill.”

Fishing for steelhead on the Clearwater River, upriver from its confluence with the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release March 6, 2024

Washington State Legislature Funds Recreational Study Connected to Columbia Basin Restoration

The new recreation study joins three previously-funded studies on how to best replace energy, transportation and irrigation services now provided by the lower Snake River Dams

In the News: The Colorado Sun March 6, 2024

Suncor gets tougher “forever chemicals” and toxins limits in new Colorado water permit

Michael Freeman, Attorney, Rocky Mountain Office: “This permit gives Suncor an extraordinarily long time to comply with permit limits. The company won’t have to meet its PFAS limits for three years. For several other pollutants, Suncor will get more than six years to comply. That timeline is problematic because this is only a five-year permit.…

After years of inaction by the federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed long-overdue limits on six PFAS in drinking water. (Getty Images)
feature February 29, 2024

Inside EPA’s Roadmap on Regulating PFAS Chemicals

Toxic “forever chemicals” remain laxly regulated.

A sign warns visitors from a contaminated stream in Fort Edward, N.Y. Trichloroethylene (TCE) was dumped by a nearby factory into the ground. The toxic chemical subsequently entered the underground soil and water aquifers in a plume area underneath homes in the neighborhood. (Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images)
feature February 28, 2024

What you should know about trichloroethylene

The carcinogenic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) has contaminated drinking water for decades and been linked to cancer clusters across the country.

Former Bad River Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. at the Tribe's reservation in Wisconsin where Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline crosses.
(Jaida Grey Eagle for Earthjustice)
Press Release February 28, 2024

30 Tribal Nations Ask Biden Administration to Condemn Canadian Pipeline Trespass

Enbridge has earned over $1 billion by trespassing on the Bad River Band’s reservation.