Eubanks Publishes Cover Article In The Environmental Forum’s Summer Reading Issue

William Eubanks recently authored the cover article in the Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum.  The article, which analyzes the significant adverse environmental impacts of a heavily subsidized industrial agriculture system, was selected as the top article published by ELI during the past year and was reproduced in this special summer reading issue of the Environmental Forum.  The article can be downloaded free of charge at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1636025.

Plaintiffs Win Suit Against Jetskis In National Parks

Yesterday Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that the Park Service violated federal law in deciding to allow unlimited Jetski use in two national parks – Gulf Islands National Seashore (in Florida and Mississippi) and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (in Michigan).   Finding that the “serenity, the tranquility – indeed, the majesty – of these two national treasures” is being compromised by “these highly polluting and noisy vehicles,” the court remanded the matter to the agency to reconsider whether to allow Jetski use to continue in these Parks.  A copy of the Court’s 88 page Opinion is here.

Queen Anne's Conservation Association Succeeds In Preventing Massive Quasi-Military Facility On Maryland's Eastern Shore

Queen Anne’s Conservation Association ("QACA") has won a resounding victory against the Department of State and the General Services Administration in its efforts to stop the construction of a massive quasi-military training facility in Queen Anne’s County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. After we represented QACA in securing a stipulated Court Order directing the rapid release of information under the Freedom of Information Act and QACA also built a coordinated campaign to inform the public of the facility’s impacts and develop political opposition to the facility, the government announced its intention not to construct the facility in Queen Anne’s County.

Sierra Club Wins Challenge To Cypress Creek Town Center And Judge Finds That Corps's Violation Of Clean Water Act Is Part Of Pattern

The Sierra Club, Gulf Restoration Network, Clean Water Action, and several individuals have won a major victory in their challenge to a Clean Water Act ("CWA") section 404 dredge and fill permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of Cypress Creek Town Center, a massive development slated for construction and threatening important wildlife habitat, wetlands, and Tampa’s drinking water supply. In a decision with broad ramifications, the Court concluded that the permit violated the CWA and NEPA, finding that the Corps, as part of a larger ongoing pattern of non-enforcement of its obligations under the CWA, had allowed data to be manipulated in an attempt to justify an unlawful permit.

Agreement Reached To Protect Sea Turtles From Oil Spill Response Burns

Conservation and animal welfare organizations have struck an interim agreement with BP and the Coast Guard to expeditiously develop mandatory protocols for including qualified independent observers on each burn team following specified sea turtle, search, rescue, and rehabilitation practices.  Such protocols will ensure to the greatest extent possible that the risk to endangered and threatened sea turtles is minimized before burns are ignited by making sure the turtles are located and removed before the burns are ignited, and will also increase the information collection process on wildlife being affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its cleanup efforts.

Lawsuit Filed and Emergency Relief Requested Over BP's and Coast Guard's Burning of Sea Turtles in the Gulf

Yesterday, our firm filed suit on behalf of several conservation and animal welfare organizations in federal district court in New Orleans challenging BP's and the Coast Guard's oil spill response practice of controlled burning, which is killing federally listed sea turtles helplessly caught in these "burn boxes." Plaintiffs have moved for a temporary restraining order to immediately modify this practice by requiring defendants to adopt certain measures to eliminate the risk of unlawful sea turtle mortalities and injuries while also having no appreciable adverse effect on defendants' oil containment efforts.