Environmental Citizen Suits
Our attorneys have extensive experience with citizen suits, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. We have initiated, defended, settled and litigated citizen suits, with a particular emphasis on cases arising under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Sample representations include:
- Representing a major manufacturing company in the settlement of a threatened citizens suit under the Clean Air Act for alleged violations of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Reasonable Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements;
- Representing a state Department of Transportation in the defense and settlement of a citizen suit alleging violations of the conformity provisions of § 176 of the Clean Air Act;
- Representing environmental groups in litigation challenging failure of Florida state agencies to regulate discharges of nutrient-enriched water from agricultural lands into Everglades; suit was settled by state agencies' agreement to regulate and treat such discharges through establishment of best management practices for agriculture and construction of storm water treatment areas to filter discharges;
- Successfully defended Georgia real estate developer in first of its kind citizen suit to seek enforce National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) storm water permit requirements for construction activities. Even though Georgia did not have a storm water permitting program in place at the time, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals crafted a safe harbor for developers who made a good faith effort to meet what would otherwise be required if permits were available;
- On behalf of a trout farm, successfully enjoining a county landfill from operating without a NPDES permit; landfill had been discharging contaminated run-off and leachate. Our client was awarded damages and attorneys fees;
- Resolving a dispute on behalf of a poultry processing plant by creating an innovative settlement whereby our client assisted in forming a riverkeeper organization to meet its obligations under the CWA pursuant to a federally approved consent decree;
- Successfully prosecuting a CAA citizen's suit for a Virginia County obtaining an order under the Clean Air Act against a wood treating company which was boiling off creosote-laden water to avoid problems with water pollution control authorities; this suit caused the plant to be shut down, and it was subsequently designated a Superfund site and cleaned up;
- Defending Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. in a seminal CWA citizen's suit that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and established an important precedent governing citizen suit liability;
- Successfully challenging a decision by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Corps of Engineers to build a dam on a free-flowing river in West Virginia; the Court of Appeals enjoined the project and remanded for further environmental study, holding that agencies' economic analysis impermissibly inflated the project's recreational benefits, and that failure to seriously consider threat of infestation by invasive species violated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA);
- Successfully negotiating a resolution of one of the first citizen's suits in federal court in Georgia alleging permit violations related to thermal discharges and seeking significant monetary damages. The allegations regarding permit accidences were dismissed and the remaining charges were settled in a manner that was very favorable for our client; and
- Negotiated resolution of a citizen suit regarding NPDES permit accidences on behalf of a large chemical manufacturer. The case was settled following the sixty-day notice from the citizen group of its intent to sue, thereby avoiding litigation.