Eubanks Publishes Paper in Peer-Reviewed Climate Change Journal

Bill Eubanks recently published a paper on the devastating impacts of climate change in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses.  The paper highlights the rapidly worsening effects of climate change on the northeastern United States by focusing on the quintessential species in the region -- the sugar maple.  The abstract can be found here:  http://ijc.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.185/prod.82.  The paper builds on an earlier article that was published by the Penn State Environmental Law Review, available here:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1286946.

Eubanks to Speak on BP Oil Spill at 18th Annual Animal Law Conference

Bill Eubanks will be presenting at the 18th Annual Animal Law Conference in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, October 16, on a panel titled, Dangerous Waters: Animals in the Wake of the Gulf Oil Spill.  Eubanks was the lead counsel for conservation and animal protection organizations in a recent lawsuit that forced BP and the Coast Guard to substantially alter their in-situ burn policies in order to ensure that endangered and threatened sea turtles would not be killed by the burns.  More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.lclark.edu/law/student_groups/student_animal_legal_defense_fund/animal_law_conference/

District Court Vacates Cypress Creek Town Center (CCTC) Permit

Following on a June 30, 2010 Opinion finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) violated the Clean Water Act in authorizing a massive shopping mall development in Southern Florida (see July 8, 2010 Posting), last week the district Court vacated the CCTC permit, preventing any further development of the mall. Although the Corps and the developer argued that the legal violations were not significant enough to warrant vacatur, the Court disagreed, concluding that “vacatur is appropriate in order to prevent significant harm resulting from keeping the agency’s decision in place.” The Court permitted the developer to continue operating a stormwater discharge system necessary in light of the wetlands destruction that has already occurred, and to complete a road already under construction on the site. A copy of the Court’s Opinion is attached.

Showing Animals Respect and Kindness Victorious in FOIA Lawsuit

Last week we prevailed in a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) suit against the Department of the Interior concerning the withholding of videos depicting the vicious and unlawful killing of a tame black bear by country singer Troy Gentry. The U.S. district court ruled that Gentry had no significant privacy interest in the videos and that plaintiff Showing Animals Respect and Kindness demonstrated a public interest in their disclosure to shed light on the government’s prosecution of Gentry and his co-conspirator under various criminal laws. A copy of the Court’s opinion is here.

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.