Our Work
Our Cases
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New Source Review Equipment Replacement Loophole 11/23/05 |
When power plants and other major facilities make emissions-increasing changes, the Clean Air Act requires them to protect air quality and apply up-to-date pollution controls. Earthjustice went to court to challenge an EPA rule that carves out a major loophole in this requirement. On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act does require older power plants to have current air pollution controls when they are upgraded. |
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Colorado River Cutthroat Trout 11/22/05 |
The Colorado River cutthroat trout, once abundant throughout its range, has been nearly wiped out by dams, diversions, and other human-caused impacts. Earthjustice has filed suit to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to grant Endangered Species Act to the species. In September 2006, a federal judge ruled that the FWS must give the species a thorough evaluation. |
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Stream and Wetland Protection Rule 11/09/05 |
Industry groups challenged a rule issued by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency, designed to protect rivers, streams, wetlands and other waters from destructive discharges of dredged material. Earthjustice intervened to oppose the industry challenge. In February 2008, the dismissed the appeal by the industry groups. |
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Biopharm Algae 11/09/05 |
The State of Hawai'i's Board of Agriculture approved a permit to allow the importation of algae genetically engineered to produce drugs on the Kona coast of the Big Island. Earthjustice sued, and the Court has ordered that the Board’s approval without a review of potential environmental impacts of the project was invalid. |
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Honolulu Irradiator 11/09/05 |
Earthjustice has been fighting to ensure adequate environmental review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of an application to build a Cobalt-60 irradiator to treat fruit and vegetables for fruit flies at a site located in a tsunami evacuation zone and near active runways at the Honolulu International Airport, residential neighborhoods and schools.
In August 2009, the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled the NRC Staff had illegally refused to consider the impacts from accidents that might occur while radioactive cobalt is transported to and from the irradiator and also failed to consider reasonable alternatives (non-nuclear technology and alternate sites) that could accomplish the project’s purpose with fewer threats to public health and safety and the environment.
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Mountaintop Removal in West Virginia 11/07/05 |
Mountaintop removal is one of the most environmentally destructive activities in the country. The Army Corps of Engineers has issued permits for four mines that will dump millions of tons of rock and debris into nearby streams and valleys, burying them forever. The permits were issued without the required environmental studies and impact statements. On March 23, 2007, a federal judge agreed and rescinded the permits. |
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Mexican Border Power Plants 10/29/05 |
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| Presidente Juarez Power plant in Rosartio Beach, Baja California Norte |
| Photo by Thomas Bravo Garcia / Greenpeace |
Suit to force the US Department of Energy to conduct a thorough environmental assessment before authorizing operation of power plants owned by US corporations and constructed in Mexico to supply power to the US energy market.
As a result of this suit, the court ordered that the DOE conduct an environmental assessment before authorizing electricity transmission.
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Kensington Mine Project 10/19/05 |
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| Lower Slate Lake, AK |
| Photo by Irene Alexakos |
In issuing a permit for a gold mine, the Army Corps of Engineers improperly applied new "fill" regulations under the Clean Water Act. As a result, millions of tons of mine waste would have been dumped into a pristine sub-alpine lake in Southeast Alaska, killing all fish and aquatic life in the lake.
In March 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal announced that the permit to allow the mine waste to be dumped in the lake was illegal and would be struck down. On October 29, 2007, the same court -- in this case, all 27 active judges -- refused to reconsider the decision made in March.
In a 6-3 decision on June 22, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. |
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San Pedro River Watch Continues 10/10/05 |
Ft. Huachuca, in Southern Arizona, has not followed through on its own plan to limit groundwater use to sustain the San Pedro River. Now development in the city of Sierra Vista is taking even more water from the over-used aquifer. Earthjustice is pursuing ways to ensure that future groundwater pumping is sustainable for the San Pedro river ecosystem. |
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Bush Roadless Repeal 10/06/05 |
In July 2005, the Bush adminstration repealed the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a Forest Service regulation which generally prohibited logging, road construction, and other development on over 58 million acres of roadless land in national forests. Earthjustice challenged the repeal, and on September 20, 2006, a federal district court ordered reinstatement of the rule. Furthermore, on November 29, 2006, the court ordered the Forest Service to stop work on 84 oil and gas projects and an Idaho road project that had been approved during the five years that the roadless rule was illegally repealed. |
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Greenhouse Gases & Global Warming 07/06/05 |
The Environmental Protection Agency has taken the position that it will not regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as "pollutants" under the Clean Air Act. Earthjustice challenged that position in court, on behalf of Sierra Club. On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the Clean Air Act does give the EPA the authority to regulate these emissions from cars. |
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Eight-Hour Ozone Standards 07/05/05 |
On April 30, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency released final rules to control smog. Unfortunately, the rules fall well short of what public health and the law require. An Earthjustice suit is pending in federal court. |
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Power Plant Threat in Yellowstone 07/01/05 |
The government blessed a new coal-fired power plant planned for central Montana that would pollute the air over Yellowstone and other clean-air places despite objections from the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Earthjustice challenged the plant in court, the government withdrew the approval, and the case was dismissed. |
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Western Arctic Oil & Gas Drilling -- NE Reserve 06/30/05 |
Outside of the industrialized Prudhoe Bay, vast areas of relatively untouched wildlife habitat remain in Alaska's Western Arctic. Earthjustice is working hard to protect wildlife and other resources across this region, including in the 23-million acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. In 1998, the Department of the Interior authorized oil and gas leasing on 87% of the Northeast Planning Area of the Reserve, including in key wildlife habitat areas, such as a portion of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area and the Colville River corridor. Earthjustice challenged this decision in the D.C. District Court and is still awaiting a ruling.
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Western Arctic Oil & Gas Drilling -- Teshekpuk Lake 06/30/05 |
This case challenges the BLM's decision to open previously-protected areas around Teshekpuk Lake in the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska for oil and gas development and to scale back protective measures throughout this portion of the Reserve. The Teshekpuk Lake region contains the most productive and diverse ecosystem in the American Arctic, supporting important subsistence and other resources, including caribou and millions of migratory species.
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Wolverines: Legal Protection Needed 06/08/05 |
The wolverine is generally intolerant of human disturbance in its habitat. Its presence in a area signifies untrammeled, uncompromised wilderness. This lawsuit asked a federal court to overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's refusal to consider new legal protections for the wolverine.
In October 2006, a federal judged ruled that the FWS wrongly rejected scientific information regarding the wolverine that "shows a dramatic loss in range, the tangible decrease in population with the commensurate threat of genetic isolation of subpopulations, and the threat posed by human encroachment on wolverines."
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FCC Towers 06/01/05 |
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| 976 birds killed in a single night at a Florida TV tower. Click for larger image. |
| Photo by Robert Crawford |
Tens of thousands of communication towers dot landscapes across the country. In Texas alone, there are over 10,000 of these towers; the FCC receives approximately 20-25 new applications for tower construction each month. These towers pose a significant threat to endangered bird species, especially migratory birds. This filing sought to compel the FCC to revise its rulemaking and consider the impacts within an environmental impact study that a new tower may pose.
In February 2008, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC did not follow the law to carefully consider the possible adverse effects to migratory birds when it issues permits for towers.
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Otero Mesa 05/26/05 |
Otero Mesa is a desert grassland in New Mexico that provides habitat for several federally protected species. Conservationists and the State of New Mexico want to protect the most sensitive areas, while the Bush administration wanted to throw it all open to oil and gas development.
On April 28, 2009, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision invalidating the Bush administration drilling plan for Otero Mesa.
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