Water
Earthrise secures improvements to industrial stormwater discharge permits
Earthrise Law Center, on behalf of our clients Columbia Riverkeeper and Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC), today successfully resolved a lawsuit challenging Oregon’s general permit for discharges of industrial stormwater
Thank You Rose Foundation
Thank you to the Rose Foundation for their grant to fund Earthrise’s Puget Sound work.
Wild Fish Conservancy Sues Cooke Aquaculture Over CWA Violations Related to its Atlantic Salmon Farming Facilities in Puget Sound
On behalf of Wild Fish Conservancy, on Monday, November 13th, Earthrise filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Washington against Cooke Aquaculture for Clean Water Act violations related to the near-complete structural failure of its Atlantic salmon farming facility in Deepwater Bay off of Cypress Island in late August.
Earthrise files brief with US Supreme Court over WOTUS
On behalf of our clients Waterkeeper Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, and several other organizations (“Waterkeeper”), Earthrise filed their opening merits brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on April 27, 2017, in the case captioned as National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, et al.
Court Ousts Oregon’s Water Pollution Clean-up Plans, Too Hot for Salmon
Yesterday, Earthrise and its co-counsel, on behalf of Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA), won a challenge against Oregon’s illegal water temperature standards, which change goals from cold temperatures to hot—and sometimes even lethal for salmon and other imperiled cold-water species.
Earthrise Files Petition to Address “Zombie Permits”
Earthrise filed a petition today on behalf of the Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA), the Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC), and fish advocate, Bill Bakke, seeking to force Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to address the enormous backlog of administratively continued Clean Water Act permits, known as “Zombie Permits.”
Trump Instructs EPA to “Review and Rescind or Revise” Waters of the U.S. Rule
On February 28, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers (the “Agencies”) to begin a rulemaking to rescind or revise the Clean Water Rule, a 2015 regulation that defined the phrase “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) as used in the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), thereby identifying those waters protected by the Act’s restrictions on pollutant discharges.
Lawsuit Seeks New Toxic Standards for Washington State Waters
Today Earthrise filed a lawsuit on behalf of Oregon-based Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) challenging EPA’s failure to respond to an 88-page petition submitted to the federal agency over three years ago, in October 2013. The petition seeks EPA’s action to update Washington’s water quality standards for toxics, primarily for the protection of aquatic life, such as salmon and steelhead.
Green River Trial Final Stages- Earthrise Seeks Cleanup
Last week, Earthrise brought the Green River in Illinois one step closer to being restored after decades of concrete dumping along its banks by an adjacent landowner and owner of a demolition and trucking company. In federal court in Rock Island, Illinois, on behalf of Quad Cities Waterkeeper and Prairie Rivers Network, Earthrise attorneys Kevin Cassidy and Lia Comerford presented evidence about the harm the unauthorized concrete dumping has caused to their clients and the Green River and urged federal judge Sara Darrow to order and oversee a comprehensive restoration plan.
Washington’s Refusal to Operate under Coastal Protection Law Could Lose the State Federal Funding
Longtime partners, Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA), represented by Earthrise attorney Allison LaPlante and Seattle attorney Paul Kampmeier of Kampmeier & Knutsen filed a lawsuit today against the EPA and NOAA for their failure to force Washington State to control polluted runoff in the state’s coastal watersheds, including Puget Sound. The lawsuit aims to force the agencies to impose Congressionally-mandated funding cuts on the State of Washington for failing to comply with a law that requires the state to protect coastal water quality.
EPA on Notice for Violations of the Endangered Species Act in New England
The Center for Biological Diversity and Northwest Environmental Advocates notified the Environmental Protection Agency last week that they plan to sue the agency for failing to consider the needs of endangered salmon and sturgeon when approving state water-quality standards in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut.
Magistrate Recommends NWEA Wins Suit Over Oregon Water Temperature Standards
Earthrise, along with co-counsel, Bryan Telegin, received a ruling from a federal magistrate judge this week recommending that our client, Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA), should win its suit challenging Oregon’s plans to clean up temperature and mercury pollution in Oregon’s rivers.
Earthrise Victory in Illinois: Concrete Dumping Violated Clean Water Act
In a precedent setting case, United States District Judge Sara Darrow, of the Central District of Illinois, ruled on September 29 that maintenance of an otherwise unpermitted levee is not exempt from the federal Clean Water Act.
Earthrise and NWEA Threaten Federal Lawsuit to Protect Puget Sound from Polluted Runoff
Earthrise attorney Allison LaPlante, representing Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) is threatening the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with a lawsuit in 60 days over their failure to protected coasted threatened and endangered species in Washington State.
Public Nuisance PCB Suits Against Monsanto Could Have Far-Reaching Impact
“A recent flurry of suits by West Coast cities—seeking to hold Monsanto liable for allegedly polluting public waterways with PCBs it made decades ago—represents an intersection of hazardous waste and product liability law that could have a far-reaching impact on industrial product manufacturers, attorneys and scholars tell Bloomberg BNA.” Professor Craig Johnston spoke to Bloomberg BNA on what this could mean for hazardous waste law.