Important Ruling in NEDC vs. Owens Corning

On May 17, federal Magistrate Judge John Jelderks denied Owens Corning’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit against it, ruling in Plaintiffs’ favor on every issue. Owens Corning had moved to dismiss the case, arguing among other things that the Plaintiffs lacked standing to bring suit based on injuries that could result from the facility’s emission of HCFC 142b, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance. In it’s May 17th ruling, the court ruled that the Plaintiffs had standing to sue for these global problems.

Dismissing arguments made by the company’s law firm Perkins Coie, the court made clear that if Defendant’s tenuous theory that harm to all is harm to none was correct, then no person could challenge harm “to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park, or threats to the giant sequoias and blue whales, as the loss of those treasures would be felt by everyone.”

The court’s ruling is an important legal precedent for citizen groups bringing litigation related to climate change and ozone-depletion. Thanks yet again to our outstanding attorneys at PEAC.