Using the courts, Public Justice takes on the richest and most politically powerful forces in the country to protect communities and ensure a planet rich in biodiversity that can sustain life for future generations. Importantly, tackling the abuses inflicted on the environment by corporations, the government, and other polluters helps mitigate the destruction of climate change, the preeminent existential crisis of our day.
The Trump Administration’s prioritization of the oil and gas industry’s interests and easing enforcement of environmental laws are intended to line the pockets of powerful corporations and billionaires — at the expense of ordinary families and communities.
Through Public Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Project, we strategically leverage citizen suit litigation, authorized by the nation’s core environmental laws to allow any individual, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or gender, to file suits in federal court to stop unlawful pollution. This expansive power to protect local communities is reflected by some of our precedent-setting victories: stopping mountaintop removal and holding mining companies accountable for their environmental degradation; permanently protecting coastal forests from clearcutting and saving threatened Marbled Murrelet populations in Oregon; and abating widespread groundwater contamination caused by factory farms.
As a pioneer in citizen suit litigation for environmental abuses and a specialist in citizen suit enforcement, Public Justice brings real-world, transformative change to local and regional communities — giving ordinary citizens the power to enforce our nation’s environmental laws against polluters.
As a tool created by Congress, citizen lawsuits give everyday people the power to enforce federal environmental laws, allowing individuals to sue polluters and hold them accountable. We’re experts in citizen suit enforcement, setting precedents with cases won on behalf of our clients and the environment.
The Clean Water Act was enacted with the ambitious goal of eliminating surface water pollution in the United States, yet decades later that goal remains unmet, due in part to corporate influence and inadequate government enforcement. Although the Act generally prohibits the discharge of pollutants into the Nation’s waters, facilities may continue polluting under government-issued permits. Recognizing the outsized influence of corporations and the limitations of regulatory enforcement, Congress created the citizen suit provision to empower communities and individuals to help enforce environmental laws. In doing so, Congress made clear that citizens are not nuisances or troublemakers, but essential participants in protecting environmental interests. As Congress later reaffirmed, “Citizen suits are a proven enforcement tool.” (S. Rep. No. 99–50, at 28 (1985)).
By concentrating thousands of animals into a small footprint, factory farms can be responsible for significant surface and groundwater pollution. Nitrate contamination of our aquifers is often irreparable, and consumption of water containing more than 10 mg/L nitrate may cause serious health impacts, especially for children and pregnant mothers. EEP has won precedent-setting litigation against CAFOs by requiring facilities to clean up their operations and provide safe drinking water to impacted residences.
Mining operations impose substantial environmental and societal costs on nearby communities and their environment. These facilities are frequently regulated under the Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes and may be held accountable in federal court for violating the terms and conditions of their operating permits. The transportation and exportation of coal causes further impacts. Our litigation against mountaintop removal operations in West Virginia and coal trains moving across Washington State are just two examples of how our Environmental Enforcement Project works to combat coal and mining pollution.
Industrial development puts endangered species at risk of extinction by eliminating critical habitat and harming individual species of a threatened species. We use the citizen suit provision of the Endangered Species Act to protect habitat and stop the destruction of our planet’s flora and fauna.
If you have or know of a potential case that might be appropriate for Public Justice, we will consider involvement in cases that further the goals of one or more of our issue areas. Please fill out the form on our Submit a Case page.
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