Attorney Suzanne S. Dickey has explained that TELC student attorneys have "handled cases involving all aspects of environmental law, including air pollution, conservation of natural resources, urban land use and siting of waste facilities." Some examples appear below. •
Air pollution: TELC student-attorneys filed a Clean Air Act citizen suit in which the court ruled that a
St. Bernard Parish oil refinery violated the Clean Air Act more than 2600 times. A court in another TELC-handled case vacated a
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) permit which purported to waive Clean Air Act requirements for prevention of deterioration of air quality. On behalf of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), TELC has prosecuted a series of cases to promote cleaner air in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As part of this effort, TELC obtained court orders that 1) vacated an EPA attempt to extend Louisiana's deadline for achieving health protection standards for ozone air pollution in the Baton Rouge Area, and 2) vacated EPA's approval of an inter-pollutant trading plan that would have allowed Louisiana to increase emissions of
volatile organic compounds in return for reductions in oxides of nitrogen (
NOx). TELC and LEAN also obtained a court order that required EPA to make a determination that increased the stringency of emission controls in the Baton Rouge area, and obtained statements from EPA and LDEQ admitting that Louisiana was operating a "bank" for
emissions trading that failed to meet minimum Clean Air Act requirements. •
Water pollution: TELC student attorneys engage in administrative actions to convince LDEQ to implement the
Clean Water Act's anti-degradation provisions, including rules to protect streams designated as "outstanding natural resource waters." TELC settled a case on behalf of coalition of environmental organizations to require cleanup of mercury leaked from meters used to monitor gas wells near
Monroe, Louisiana, where many streams are under mercury advisories. In addition, TELC is prosecuting a case to enjoin discharges of waste that allegedly passes through and interferes with a municipal sewage treatment plant in the Town of Independence,
Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, causing violations of Clean Water Act standards for discharges into the
Tangipahoa River. On October 9, 2001, TELC filed a petition on behalf of a coalition of community groups that asked EPA to withdraw Louisiana's authority to administer the Clean Water Act's discharge permitting program because of inadequate enforcement and LDEQ's failure to comply with requirements for issuance of permits. EPA responded with a February 14, 2003, letter to Louisiana Governor
Mike Foster raising "serious concerns" about the state program and setting forth a list of "performance measures" and schedule for the state to restore "program integrity." On May 13, 2004, EPA "notified [Louisiana] Governor
Kathleen Blanco of the completion of the performance measures." •
Stormwater: On April 12, 2001, TELC provided notice to the owner of a local dairy of the Felicity Street Redevelopment Project, Inc.'s intent to take action about pollutant discharges into storm water drains. The dairy owner responded by detailing steps it had taken to achieve compliance and invited TELC's client to inspect the improved facility. •
Wetlands: TELC's work on behalf of the Gulf Restoration Network includes a case seeking to enjoin destruction of wetlands near
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. TELC student attorneys also mounted a successful challenge to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a permit to destroy wetlands bordering Timber Creek, in
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, without considering cumulative impacts. Additionally, on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups, TELC appeared as amicus in a case that rejected a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' exemption for a cypress harvesting operation in wetlands from the Clean Water Act's permitting system because the Corps failed to show that the tree harvesting operation falls within the Act's "on-going silviculture" exception. •
Landfills: In a case that TELC handled on behalf of the Oakville Community Action Group, the court revoked a permit for expansion of the Industrial Pipe landfill, which looms over the predominantly African-American community of Oakville in
Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. In another TELC-handled case, the court set aside a contract for
St. Helena Parish to host a new landfill for 50 years because of violations of Louisiana's open meetings law. After
Hurricane Katrina and
Hurricane Rita, LDEQ issued emergency orders to waive rules that normally prohibit disposal of most household wastes in landfills that lack systems to prevent contamination of
groundwater, such as systems for monitoring groundwater and collecting
leachate. On behalf of LEAN and Sierra Club, TELC brought a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that federal law barred LDEQ's waivers under the doctrine of
preemption. While the lawsuit was pending, TELC and the LDEQ engaged in negotiations that resulted in several improvements to the emergency orders. For example, on January 19, 2007, LDEQ removed "household hazardous waste . . . where segregation is not practicable" from the list of materials that the Secretary authorized the landfills to accept. Also on January 19, 2007, LDEQ added language to the orders to require compliance with Clean Air Act standards for disposal of
asbestos. On March 19, 2007, LDEQ again amended the orders to narrow their application to seven landfills effective April 20, 2007. On September 5, 2007, however, the court dismissed the plaintiffs' lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked
standing to sue. •
Wildlife: TELC represented Sierra Club as amicus in an
Endangered Species Act case in which the court ordered the U.S. Department of Interior to designate critical habitat for protection of the
Louisiana black bear. In addition, on July 25, 2002, TELC negotiated a settlement on behalf of Coalition for Louisiana Animal Advocates which required the U.S. Army to refrain from roundup and removal of wild horses from
Fort Polk in the
Kisatchie National Forest until completing an Environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment. •
Global warming: On behalf of
Sierra Club, the Alliance for Affordable Energy and others, TELC engaged in litigation to oppose construction of new coal-fired power plants which, if built, would release pollutants associated with climate change. As part of this effort, TELC submitted an April 1, 2008, notice of intent to sue
Entergy about an effort to convert its Little Gypsy power plant to burn
coal and
petroleum coke. Entergy responded by announcing on April 23, 2008, that it would delay construction until it received government-approved limits for hazardous air pollutants. Entergy received these limits in a permit modification on about February 26, 2009. Meanwhile, however, on February 18, 2009, the
Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) administrative law judge heard oral argument from a TELC student attorney and others about whether Entergy must reveal data to show whether the project is economically viable. On March 13, 2008, LPSC ordered Entergy to suspend the project pending a review of economic viability. On April 1, 2009, Entergy submitted its review and asked LPSC for "a longer-term delay (three years or more)" of the project. •
Environmental justice: After TELC submitted a November 23, 2004 "notice of intent to sue" on behalf of St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, FTM and Associates, Inc. and LDEQ announced that FTM would stop its practice of spraying sewage sludge from
Kenner, Louisiana, on sugar cane fields near the homes of residents of Convent,
St. James Parish, Louisiana. Also, TELC intervened on behalf of Citizens for a Strong New Orleans East and others in a lawsuit to support a cease and desist order that shut down the Chef Menteur landfill, located between a lower-income Vietnamese-American community in East New Orleans and
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge. •
Rule of law: TELC's litigation on behalf of its clients includes cases to enforce the duty of Louisiana agencies, as public trustees under the
Louisiana Constitution, to evaluate impacts, costs and benefits, alternatives, and mitigating measures before approving action affecting the environment. Also, on behalf of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and others, TELC prosecuted a case in which a federal court enjoined a $750 million U.S. Army Corps' project to expand the
Industrial Canal in New Orleans'
lower ninth ward after the Corps failed to comply with the
National Environmental Policy Act. On behalf of Concerned Citizens Around Murphy, TELC worked with Public Justice to stop EPA from conducting an experimental burn of
asbestos contaminated waste in St. Bernard Parish that would have violated EPA's own hazardous air pollutant regulations. TELC and Public Justice submitted a Notice of Intent to Sue the agency, alleging that EPA's plans to experiment by departing from health and safety standards would treat "a storm-devastated Louisiana parish as a laboratory for illegal experiments." In response, EPA dropped its plans to burn regulated asbestos containing material during the experiment. ==Funding==