TOLEDO, Ohio – The non-profit groups Environment America (d/b/a Environment Ohio) and Lake Erie Waterkeeper announced Wednesday that they have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against Campbell Soup Supply Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Campbell Soup, Inc., for thousands of alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act at its canning factory on the banks of the Maumee River in Napoleon, Ohio.  The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also filed its own lawsuit Wednesday, concerning the same ..read more

PITTSBURGH, PA.—At a press conference held on Oct. 3, National Environmental Law Center (NELC) attorneys announced the service of a formal notice of intent to sue Styropek USA, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary BVPV Styrenics LLC, alleging that the companies’ plastic-manufacturing facility in northwestern Pennsylvania is in chronic violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Sent on behalf of Three Rivers Waterkeeper and PennEnvironment, the notice alleges that wastewater and stormwater discharged from the facility into Raccoon Creek, a tributary to the Ohio River, routinely contain quantities ..read more

NEW ORLEANS—In an unusual move, all 17 active judges on the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in May on Exxon’s latest attempt to avoid a record-setting $14.25 million civil penalty for committing over 16,000 Clean Air Act violations at its Baytown, Texas, oil refinery and chemical plant complex. No decision has yet been rendered. Here’s how we got here: NELC attorneys, representing plaintiffs Environment Texas and Sierra Club, had prevailed on appeals in this long-running case twice before, in front of two different three-judge panels of Fifth Circuit judges. The sec ..read more

BOSTON—In September, NELC welcomed attorney Lewis DeHope to our litigation team. Lewis graduated from the University of Alabama in 2017 and Harvard Law School in 2021. Lewis rejoins NELC following his first stint here as a summer intern in 2019. In the interim, he spent a year in law school with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in the Environmental Protection Division, and two years as an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in the Charleston, South Carolina office. At SELC, he aided in the litigation of a variety of environmental cases, including a complex Endangered ..read more

$42 million settlement of Clean Air Act enforcement suit will upgrade Clairton plant, reduce emissions, create public health funds PITTSBURGH – The statewide environmental groups PennEnvironment and Clean Air Council announced Tuesday that they have filed in U.S. District Court a proposed consent decree in settlement of their Clean Air Act lawsuit against United States Steel Corporation. If the court, as expected, approves the $42 million agreement, it would resolve a case alleging thousands of violations of air pollution standards that stemmed from a catastrophic 2018 fire and subsequent poll ..read more

PITTSBURGH – PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper announced Tuesday that they have filed a federal lawsuit against BVPV Styrenics LLC and its parent company, Styropek USA, Inc., for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act involving illegal discharges of plastics from their plastic manufacturing facility in Monaca, Pennsylvania. “Whether we reach a negotiated settlement or a litigated solution, our goal in this case is the same: to end the illegal discharge of harmful plastic pollution into Raccoon Creek, the Ohio River and our environment,” said David Masur, PennEnvironment’s ..read more

On Aug. 5, the world lost Ed Lloyd, a pioneering public interest lawyer and a true crusader for the environment. Ed began his legal career with the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group in the 1980s, where he worked with a team of lawyers to bring scores of citizen enforcement suits under the Clean Water Act, stopping illegal pollution and securing millions in penalties and funds for local environmental projects. In 1990, Ed joined current Litigation Director Chuck Caldart as one of the two founding attorneys of the National Environmental Law Center, where he brought environmental enforcem ..read more

NAPOLEON, OHIO—On July 13, National Environmental Law Center (NELC) attorneys served a formal notice of violation on Campbell Soup Supply Company, alleging that the company’s Napoleon, Ohio, food and aluminum can manufacturing facility is in chronic violation of the Clean Water Act. Sent on behalf of Environment Ohio and Lake Erie Waterkeeper, the notice identifies unlawful discharges of phosphorus, chemical biological oxygen demand (CBOD), E. coli bacteria, nitrogen, suspended solids, and low oxygen wastewater from the Campbell facility into the Maumee River. The stretch of the Maumee River b ..read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—On July 17, U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy entered a judgment approving the settlement of a lawsuit filed by NELC attorneys against Kenyon Industries Inc. and its parent company, Brookwood Companies Incorporated, for violations of the federal Clean Water Act at their textile mill in Kenyon, Rhode Island. The agreement requires Kenyon to improve its wastewater treatment practices and fund projects to restore and preserve the Pawcatuck River. The lawsuit, filed in August 2022 on behalf of Environment Rhode Island, alleged that Kenyon’s textile manufacturing facility, whi ..read more

Facility accused of regular discharges of plastic pellets into Raccoon Creek, Ohio River PITTSBURGH – PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper announced Tuesday that they have sent a formal notice of intent to sue BVPV Styrenics LLC and its parent company, Styropek USA, Inc., for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act at their plastic manufacturing facility in Monaca, PA. The environmental groups allege the Styropek facility routinely discharges wastewater and stormwater that is illegally filled with the small plastic beads, called “nurdles,” that are manufactured at the plant ..read more