Lawsuit Says Smithfield Biogas Project Must Fix Water Pollution And Environmental Injustices
On behalf of the Environmental Justice Community Action Network and Cape Fear River Watch, the Southern Environmental Law Center today challenged in the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings four state permits for Smithfield-owned hog operations to use giant pits of untreated hog feces and urine to produce gas while spraying the harmful waste on surrounding areas, which continues a long history of water pollution and harm to the families – disproportionately Black and Brown people – living nearby.
“The law requires Smithfield to use cleaner technology, and Smithfield is not above the law,” said Blakely Hildebrand, attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Smithfield must do more to stop its pollution and continued environmental injustices rather than clinging to the cheapest, most harmful method possible to handle untreated sewage collecting it in pits and spraying it
OHM, SELC Challenge Unprecedented Changes to Georgia Dredging Windows
SAVANNAH, GA– Today One Hundred Miles (OHM), represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), filed a challenge against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ unlawful decision to eliminate highly successful seasonal limitations on dredging projects that have protected sea turtles and other marine life for decades.
Because hopper dredging can be harmful to sea turtles, fisheries, and other coastal wildlife, the Corps has historically conducted dredging activity in Georgia during the winter months (December 15-March 31), when adult loggerheads and other sensitive species are far less abundant in Georgia’s coastal waters.
Critics of the proposed pipeline rallied Saturday afternoon Author: Caitlin McCarthy Updated: 11:01 PM CDT May 1, 2021
MEMPHIS, Tenn. Boxtown and Westwood neighbors are continuing to put pressure on elected officials to stop the Byhalia Pipeline. Members of those communities rallied Saturday afternoon to continue bringing awareness to a potential health crisis that will affect many marginalized Memphis neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, the Memphis City Council is expected to vote on a city ordinance that would limit new pipeline projects with oil or hazardous liquids from being built or expanded within city limits.
Neighbors and critics, like Dr. Roz Nichols of Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope are concerned if the pipeline project is approved by the Memphis City Council, it will contaminate the water in Memphis and parts of northern Mississippi.
Smoke from the Enviva plant fire in Sampson County (Photo courtesy Derb Carter, Southern Environmental Law Center)
A fire broke out Friday afternoon at an Enviva wood pellet plant with an extensive history of environmental violations, sending thick clouds of smoke across Interstate 40. A pile of raw wood at a facility in Faison, in Sampson County, caught fire. In a statement, the company said it was investigating the cause. According to TV media reports, the fire, whipped by strong winds, also spread to a nearby woods. More than 50 firefighters, as well as the NC Forestry Service, were on the scene. No one was injured.
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CBD in March asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to change its accounting rules to no longer presume that dues paid to trade associations that engage in lobbying or other influence-related activities can be recovered in rates.
The environmental group argued in a petition for rulemaking (RM21-15) that the Edison Electric Institute, or EEI, and other trade groups engage in and support controversial political activities, such as lobbying, campaign-related donations, and litigation. Because of this, CBD said FERC should amend its accounting rules to require that all industry association dues be recorded in a way that makes those dues presumptively nonrecoverable instead of recoverable, thereby placing the burden on utilities to show why those dues should be passed on to ratepayers.