Updates

June 24, 2013 In Updates

Third Circuit Rules Local Toxic Tort Suit Can’t Be Removed to Federal Court Under CAFA

In a published opinion stamped “PRECEDENTIAL,” the Third Circuit has held that, under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), four hundred residents of the Virgin Islands harmed by toxins from a bauxite refinery site should have their claims heard in state, not federal,…

May 7, 2013 In Updates

Two Important Environmental Victories Against Mountaintop Removal Mining

Public Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Project recently notched two important victories against mountaintop removal mining. First, the D.C. Circuit reversed a district court decision and ruled that the EPA has the power to veto the permit for Spruce No. 1 Mine. Pictured below, it is the…

March 5, 2013 In Updates

EPA Improperly Withholds Information Vital to Public Health

Despite the threat of a lawsuit brought by Public Justice against Yakima Valley (Washington) industrial dairies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is continuing to improperly withhold information vital to the public health, acting in direct dereliction of its duties under the Freedom of Information…

March 5, 2013 In Updates

Citizen Action Pushes Dairies To Declare Hazardous Substance Releases

Following years of violations, threat of lawsuits forces industrial dairies to publicly report data Community Association for Restoration of the Environment (CARE) and the Center for Food Safety (CFS) – represented by Public Justice, Law Offices of Charles M. Tebbutt, P.C., and the Center for…

February 15, 2013 In Updates

Groups File Lawsuits to Stop Groundwater Pollution from Industrial Dairies

UPDATE: Listen to NPR’s story on the lawsuits. The non-profit groups Community Association for Restoration of the Environment and the Center for Food Safety — represented by Public Justice’s Jessica Culpepper, Law Offices of Charlie Tebbutt and CFS attorneys — yesterday jointly filed lawsuits in…

February 7, 2013 In Updates

Groups File Notice Letter to Sue NRG Energy for Massive Pollution

In late January, three environmental groups represented by Public Justice and Columbia University School of Law Environmental Law Clinic announced the filing of a Clean Water Act notice of intent to sue NRG Energy for water pollution violations at three of its coal-fired power plants…

January 10, 2013 In Updates

Public Justice Challenges NRC at Hearing Over Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant

Concern about nuclear plant safety has only gotten more intense due to Hurricane Sandy. Public Justice has been challenging the relicensing of Oyster Creek Nuclear Reactor since 2010. But, in the aftermath of Sandy, that challenge has taken on greater importance. Oyster Creek is a…

December 7, 2012 In Updates

Federal Court Rules Pine Bush Central School District Officials May be Sued for Failing to Protect Jewish Students from Severe Bullying

A federal magistrate judge ruled late last week that the Superintendent of New York’s Pine Bush Central School District, as well as a school principal and two assistant principals, may be sued for failing to protect five current and former students from pervasive anti-Semitic bullying…

October 25, 2012 In Updates

Groups Poised to Sue Yakima Valley Farms Responsible for Public Hazards

The Center for Food Safety and the Community Association for Restoration of the Environment (CARE) — both represented by Public Justice — warned four major Yakima Valley (Ore.) factory farms that they will take them to federal court unless, in the next 90 days, the…

September 26, 2012 In Updates

Citizens Group in Puerto Rico Poised to Sue Energy Giant AES Corp. for Illegal Coal Ash Dumping

A group of Puerto Rican citizens says it will take AES Corporation to federal court for illegally dumping highly toxic waste from its Guayama coal-fired power plant unless the energy giant meets the group’s demands, which include a call for an end to AES’ illicit…