Clean Water Victory!

Regularly updating water pollution permits spurs innovation and progress. Thanks to the legal team at the Earthrise Law Center and to NEDC board member Karl Anuta for years of hard work on this matter, and to Governor Kate Brown for including a major commitment in her newly-released budget to reduce Oregon’s water quality permit backlog.

Oregon DEQ Agrees to Settle NEDC’s Lawsuit to Reduce Pollution from Stormwater Runoff at Industrial Facilities

Summer 2018 Newsletter

Check out NEDC’s Summer Newsletter to read more about our recent work and other news

Environmental Regulators Ignore Junkyard Fire

Willamette Week journalists interview NEDC Executive Director Mark Riskedahl about this preventable catastrophe

Willamette Dams Litigation

We are partnering with Native Fish Society, WildEarth Guardians and Advocates for the West in a new lawsuit to press federal agencies to do more to protect salmon and steelhead

Lawsuit Filed to Address “Zombie Permits”

NEDC has filed a lawsuit seeking to require Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality to address an enormous backlog of administratively extended Zombie Permits

air quality, air toxics

Cleaner Air Oregon

NEDC’s participation in the new air toxics regulatory reform effort, Cleaner Air Oregon, continues.

Oregon Floodplain Development Legal Victory

Working to manage floodplain development in Oregon to protect salmon and make our communities more resilient in the face of increasing threats from extreme weather events.

Air Toxics Testimony

NEDC’s Executive Director Mark Riskedahl was recently invited to provide testimony about air toxics regulatory oversight

NEDC

PGE's coal-fired power plant in Boardman, OR

New Study Shows Mercury Controls Also Reduce Other Pollutants

NEDC’s advocacy for mercury control technology at Oregon’s only coal-fired power plant has additional side-benefit of dramatically reducing other pollutants as well

advocacy, civic engagement, community engagement, education, environment, law, NEDC, Pacific Northwest, Portland, public service, student

NEDC by the Numbers

Here is a quick summary of some of the things we’ve achieved over the past five years, by the numbers.

CWA, environment, law, NEDC, NPDES, Pacific Northwest, Pollution, Portland

Seeking Stronger Oversight for Permit Renewals

Reducing polluted runoff from industrial facilities continues to be one of NEDC’s highest priorities.

Hannah Clements, 2L, NEDC Law Clerk and Wyss Scholar

Hannah Clements Named Wyss Scholar

Lewis & Clark Law School is pleased to announce that Hannah Clements ’20 is the second Wyss Scholar to be selected from the law school. The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable organization dedicated to western public lands issues, and its Scholars Program supports graduate-level education for the next generation of leaders in western land conservation.

Appeal of State Issued Crude Oil Terminal Air Permit

NEDC along with various other environmental groups filed a petition for reconsideration asking DEQ to reconsider its decision to authorize an air permit for a major crude oil transloading facility on the Columbia River.

Clean Air Act, collaboration, environment, law, NEDC, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, Pollution

NEDC files petition to redesignate Lakeview as Nonattainment

Lakeview’s persistent violations of federal particulate matter standards endangers public health and the environment.

Clatskanie, Clean Air Act, crude by rail, crude oil, lawsuit, NEDC, oil by rail, oil terminal

Crude oil train stopped along the Columbia River. Photo by Andrew Hawley.

Lawsuit Urges Halt to Clatskanie Oil Terminal’s Violation of Clean Air Act

NEDC, along with other environmental groups, filed a lawsuit alleging that Cascade Kelly Holdings LLC dba Global Partners violated the Clean Air Act by constructing a crude oil transloading facility without the necessary permit.

coal, crude oil, energy transport, LNG, NEDC, Pacific Northwest, rail, transloading facility

Addressing Dirty Energy Proposals in the Pacific Northwest

Large-scale extraction of coal, oil and gas in the center of North America has made Washington and Oregon ports particularly attractive destinations for proposals to facilitate movement of these dirty energy sources to markets across the globe. The scale and frenetic pace of these proposals has us, along with citizens across the region, concerned. Is the green image of the Pacific Northwest in the midst of a major transformation?

Clatskanie, Clean Air Act, climate change, collaboration, Columbia River, crude by rail, crude oil, energy transport, environment, Global, law, lawsuit, NEDC, oil by rail, oil terminal, oil transport, oil, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, Pollution, rail, trains, transloading facility

Oregon Refuses to Protect Public from Oil Terminal’s New Air Pollution

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality rejected a petition submitted on behalf of tens of thousands of Oregonians asking the agency to protect Oregon’s air from harmful new oil terminal pollution by requiring Global Partners to obtain a more protective air pollution permit.

Clatskanie, Clean Air Act, climate change, coal, collaboration, Columbia River, crude by rail, crude oil, energy transport, environment, Global, lawsuit, NEDC, oil by rail, oil terminal, oil transport, oil, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, Pollution, Portland, rail, trains, transloading facility

Oregon Regulators Welcome Dangerous Crude Oil

Oregon fails to protect citizens from air pollution and other risks tied to rail shipments of volatile Bakken crude

Summer energy law course; distance learning comes to LC law school

Lewis & Clark Law School is pleased to announce the availability of an exciting on-line course for attorneys, policymakers, and anyone else interested in energy law issues.

From June 9-12, Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Melissa Powers will offer Electricity Essentials: Renewables, Utilities & Transmission. This course will provide a comprehensive overview of the U.S. electricity supply and will address the following key components, important to anyone seeking a better understanding of the electricity system in the United States:

environment

Clean Water: Still Relevant at 50 — Webinar April 8

Legal experts and scholars discuss the impact–good and bad–of the CWA over five decades.

Vancouver Rail Oil Terminal Officially Dead; Port Admits to Violating the Law

The final chapter has closed in NEDC, Columbia Riverkeeper, and the Sierra Club’s multi-year lawsuit against the Port of Vancouver, Washington, over a proposal to build what would have been the nation’s largest rail-to-marine oil terminal there.

Ryan Shannon and friend on Davidson glacier outsider Skagway Alaska.

An Alaskan summer of a lifetime for LC law student Ryan Shannon..

Ryan Shannon, LC Law student, recently shared his summer experience working for Trustees of Alaska in Anchorage. He credits the environmental law program, NEDC and PILP for an amazing opportunity:

Protecting Headwaters on Mt. Hood

NEDC and other local environmental groups are working hard to protect Mt. Hood’s fragile alpine habitat where the Forest Service has failed to ensure such protections and continues to fail to implement effective restoration.

Strides for the Spokane

Marla Nelson, NEDC’s Legal Fellow, discusses her first Clean Water Act enforcement case against a facility along the Spokane River.

Q & A: Decker v. NEDC

NEDC’s Executive Director, Mark Riskedahl, reflects on NEDC’s recent trip to the Supreme Court and the resulting opinion issued in March of this year.

Defending the Chetco

NEDC and Earthrise recently won a significant victory for the Chetco River and for open and transparent government.

The Portland Mercury highlights NEDC’s enforcement work to protect the Columbia Slough

Read the Portland Mercury story on NEDC’s Clean Water Act enforcement work in the Columbia Slough and a recent complaint filed against Parkrose Auto Center.

NEDC’s Logging Road Pollution Case featured on front page of the Oregonian

NEDC’s logging road pollution case to be argued in the Supreme Court today. Oregonian features the case in a front page story.

The Columbian urges Clark County to comply with stormwater regulations

In a recent op-ed, the Columbia tells Clark County and developers to comply with pollution control requirements.

Clean Water Act Enforcement against Portland Harbor Shipyard

NEDC files a 60-day notice letter against Vigor Industries for Clean Water Act violations.

Judge agrees that this water capture is not enough to curtail arsenic from polluting the nearby creek.

A Big Win for the Boise River

Advocates for the West, the Idaho Conservation League and NEDC win in a Clean Water Act case protecting the Boise River.

PEAC’s Clients Litigate the CRC

7/5/12 - PEAC filed a complaint Monday against the Columbia River Crossing, on behalf of three conservation groups alleging inadequate study of health and environmental impacts.

Oregonian Op-ed in Support of Logging Road Regulation

Tom Wolf, chairman of Oregon Council of Trout Unlimited, wrote an op-ed piece in the Oregonian in support of logging road permits to protect Oregon’s water supply.

“Wild & Wonderful,” Not “Paved and Pretty Good”

6/21/12 - Professor Dan Rohlf gave a spirited defense of the Endangered Species Act before the US House Committee on Natural Resources.

U.S. Supreme Court Urged to Deny Cert in NEDC v. Brown

The Solicitor General recently advised the United States Supreme Court to deny the petition for cert in the NEDC v. Brown case.

EPA Proposes a New Rule for Logging Roads

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule for logging roads based on the recent NEDC v. Brown case.

PEAC’s Clients File Notice of Intent to Sue Columbia River Crossing Project

On behalf of clients, PEAC has filed a 60-day notice of intent to file suit against the Columbia River Crossing project.

NEDC Sets the Pace in Environmental Enforcement

Seattle Times Editorial Supporting the NEDC v. Brown Decision

NEDC in the New York Times

Story addresses air pollution from industrial boilers and water pollution from logging roads

PGE Boardman Lawsuit Resolved

Editorial discussing the resolution of the PGE Boardman coal-fired power plant Clean Air Act lawsuit

Gold Mine Under Fire

Lawsuit filed against Atlanta Gold for polluting the Boise River

Lands and Wildlife

Challenging Suction Dredge Gold Mining

NEDC filed a lawsuit to challenge the terms of Oregon’s under-protective suction dredge gold mining general permit.Courthouse News Service wrote up a brief summary

Working to Protect Oregon’s Chetco River

NEDC has initiated a lawsuit concerning gravel mining on the Chetco River. We are concerned with significant substantive flaws in a current proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize gravel extraction, and with the manner in which the public was purposefully and systematically shut out of management decisions regarding the Chetco River, a precious public resource.Courthouse News published a helpful summary of our initial legal claims.

Reducing Water Pollution from Logging Roads

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, ruled that polluted run-off from logging roads is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act.Read coverage by OPB.

Stormwater Pollution from Roads

NEDC recently resolved a Clean Water Act enforcement action against the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

environment

Pollution From TransAlta Power Plant in Centralia, WA

An April 7, 2009 Seattle Times story details the unconscionably low pollution reduction targets arrived at by the Washington Dept. of Ecology and TransAlta in a recent closed-door mediation.

Schnitzer Steel Enforcement Action

NEDC has resolved a Clean Water Act enforcement action against Schnitzer Steel. Oregonian and Portland Tribune stories discuss the settlement.View a video clip of Schnitzer’s discharge, and stay tuned for before and after images contrasting present discharge from the site with discharge after Schnitzer implements major infrastructural upgrades at the property.

Owens Corning

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.