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Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic Files Brief in Supreme Court Fishery, EPA Case

The law school’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic (IEC) has filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of 10 commercial fishing organizations challenging EPA regulations for power plants under the Clean Water Act.

Third-year law student Drew Yaeger and undergraduate senior Aaron David worked on the brief, which focused on the harm to commercial fisheries caused by power plants’ cooling water-intake systems. The IEC collaborated with attorneys across the country working on other amicus briefs in support of the environmental organizations and states that had challenged the EPA regulation.

The clinic’s brief supports the environmental organizations and state respondents. The case is on appeal following a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision holding that the EPA’s use of cost-benefit analysis to set the power plants’ cooling water-intake standards violated the Clean Water Act requirement to use the best technology available. Richard Lazarus, a former Washington University Law professor, represented the environmental organizations and presented the Supreme Court argument on December 2 on behalf of all the respondents.

Cooling water-intake systems currently kill 3.4 billion fish and other aquatic life each year. Under Clean Water Act regulations, the EPA must identify the best technology available to minimize the environmental impact. Both sides agree that cost is relevant; the dispute focuses on the EPA’s use of cost-benefit analysis, which tends to undervalue environmental benefits. The EPA has required environmentally-preferable, closed-cycle cooling for new power plants, but used cost-benefit analysis in setting less strict standards for the 554 older power plants located throughout the country.

The cases involved are Entergy Corp. v. EPA; PSEG v. Riverkeeper; and Utility Water Act Group v. Riverkeeper.  [view Washington Post editorial]

Victory for Clinic and Public Health

The Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic (IEC) has been instrumental in bringing about a new ambient air standard for lead. The EPA’s new national standard is a direct result of a lawsuit the IEC filed in federal court on behalf of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and former Herculaneum residents in 2004.  

The new standard is one-tenth of the old standard, which was set in 1978. The previous standard long ago ceased to protect public health, as the Clean Air Act requires. Teams of law, medical, and environmental studies and engineering students, and scientists,  over the years have worked on the case with clinic attorneys and environmental engineers. Law students prepared briefs and argued in federal district court. Medical and undergraduate environmental studies and engineering students prepared detailed written comments critiquing the highly technical documents prepared by EPA throughout the review. The clinic filed the lawsuit to force review of the standard and participated actively in each step of the review process. Residents in Herculaneum, Missouri, in particular, have been exposed to high levels of ambient air lead contamination as an industrial by-product.  

“The new rule has its flaws, in our view, but it’s a dramatic improvement,” notes Maxine Lipeles, IEC director. “We are proud to have played a part in bringing about this new standard, which will positively affect the health and welfare of the public, and especially children who are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning.”  

[View] Related article in the New York Times

[View] Related article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

posted 17 October 2008

Clinic Wins Partial Victory in Public Records Case

The Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic (IEC) has won a partial victory for its client in a case seeking public records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) sought documents from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers related to a study of flooding in the Upper Mississippi River System, which includes portions of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers. When the Corps failed to produce any of the requested documents, the IEC brought suit on behalf of MCE.

The federal district court ruled in favor of the Corps, but the IEC appealed with law student Aryeh Kaplan, JD '08, presenting the oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

In a September 16, 2008 decision, the Eighth Circuit held that the district court improperly failed to determine whether the withheld documents contained unprivileged material that must be provided to MCE. The Eighth Circuit remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.

[view] Court's Decision

Precedent-setting settlement with SunCoke and US Steel regarding proposed new coke plant in Granite City, IL

A settlement agreement has been reached among SunCoke (and its subsidiary Gateway Energy and Coke Co), US Steel, American Bottom Conservancy (the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic’s client), and the Sierra Club, settling would-be challenges to air pollution construction permits for a new coke plant that SunCoke and Gateway plan to build at US Steel’s massive steel mill in Granite City, IL. Key features of the settlement:

(a) The coke plant will employ pollution controls designed specifically to remove fine particulate matter (PM2.5), at greater than 99.99% removal efficiency, and will use a continuous emissions monitor to measure actual particulate matter emissions. These are major advances toward controlling PM2.5, tiny particles that are particularly harmful to human health and already present in unhealthy concentrations in the St. Louis region. Although the US Environmental Protection Agency created a separate health-based air standard for PM2.5 in 1997, pollution sources and air permitting agencies continue to permit new sources by relying solely on PM10 controls to address both PM10 and PM2.5. This may set a precedent by requiring a facility to use state-of-the-art equipment designed specifically for controlling microscopic PM2.5 emissions.

(b) The companies will create a $5 million fund to undertake projects during the next 5 years in the Granite City area to reduce emissions of PM2.5 and greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

[view] Settlement Agreement
[view] Press Release

USEPA issues proposal to reduce dramatically the national air standard for lead

Acting pursuing to a lawsuit filed by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic on behalf of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and Jack and Leslie Warden (former Herculaneum residents), the US Environmental Protection Agency today proposed to reduce dramatically the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead. This standard is required to protect public health, and to reflect the latest science. The actual standard, however, was set in 1978 and is woefully out of date. After a 3+year process, the EPA today issued its proposed rule, which is to reduce the standard from its current level of 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air to somewhere in the range of 0.1 – 0.3 ug/m3. There are other aspects to the standard, which are summarized in the attached fact sheet. The EPA’s scientific staff and outside Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee recommend that the revised standard be no higher than 0.2 ug/m3. The EPA will hold public hearings on its proposal in St. Louis and Baltimore on June 12, and will receive written comments for a 60-day period. The court order requires USEPA to issue a final rule by September 15, 2008.

 [view] Fact Sheet

Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic Student Consultant Receives Two Prestigious Scholarships and is Featured on NPR

At the age of 20 and a Washington University junior, Kelley Greenman is poised and remarkably accomplished. Her passion: saving the world from global warming. She even traveled halfway around the world just to attend last December’s United Nations climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia. Before going to Bali, Kelley was a student consultant in the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic during the fall 2007 semester. As a student consultant, Kelley worked on a global warming case involving a proposed coal-fired power plant. The construction of the plant has now been postponed indefinitely.

When Kelley talks to people about attending the UN Conference Climate Change she says, “The first thing that comes to mind is sitting in the front row, star struck, as Al Gore addressed the assembly from behind the podium. But I was more than just a spectator of the proceedings at Bali. As a member of a twenty-two-person youth delegation, I began preparing for the conference in June: researching and writing policy proposals, and familiarizing myself with the issues that would appear in the negotiations. 

"During the proceedings, I followed the issue of adaptation, which deals with the impacts of climate change that are already, or soon to be, occurring. Essentially, it discussed how to providing the funding and technology for developing countries to be able to face impending threats like intensifying weather events, rising sea levels, and shifting agricultural patterns. I was shocked to learn that there are already small Pacific islands that are relocating entire populations due to rising sea levels. Although talk in the U.S. can distance this problem with illogical economic assumptions or by denying the existence of the changes, this is not a problem that is far from the minds of millions of people around the world who are already facing the impacts that we only read about in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. For this reason, the UN Conference in Bali was a chance for me to put faces to the names and nationalities of affected populations, and a chance to re-inspire my purpose for a career in climate change policy."

Kelly is a rising star in the world of environmental issues. She recently received word that she was one of 65 scholars selected from among 595 candidates nominated by 283 colleges and universities to receive a 2008 Harry S. Truman Scholarship. She has also received a Morris K. Udall Scholarship. These scholarships are awarded to students who have demonstrated commitment to careers related to the environment. 

Most recently, Kelley was featured on National Public Radio. To read her interview, go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89567328

Proposed coal-fired power plant put on ice 

Associated Electric Cooperative (AECI), one of the nation’s largest and most respected rural electric cooperatives announced they are “postponing indefinitely” their plans to build a new coal-fired power plant near Norborne in northwest Missouri. The decision not to proceed with the plant was made by the utility’s board even though AECI had received a permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resource that signaled the construction could begin. Instead of constructing the coal-fired power plant, AECI will pursue wind, energy efficiency and clean-burning natural gas instead. 

According to Bruce Niles, director of Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign, “Four years ago the country had plans to build at least 160 coals plants, and now 63 of those proposed plants will not be built.” 

The proposed plant would have been the third new coal-fire power plant permitted by the DNR since 2005. AECI predicted that the plant would have emitted 6.8 million tons per year of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Even without these new plants, Missouri led eight Midwestern states in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2003. 

The Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic represents the Sierra Club in challenging the proposed air pollution permit for the AECI plant. Clinic students spoke at a public hearing in November 2007 regarding the draft air permit, and submitted a 140-page comment letter critiquing the draft permit. 

Melissa Hope, Development Associate with the Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club, said “With the announcement they are abandoning their coal plans in favor of clean energy, AECI is taking a giant step forward in our collective fight to stop global warming.” 

[view] Sierra Club’s Press Release
[view] Kansas City Star Article 

School Hires Science Fellow for Clinic

The School of Law has hired Katherine Pawasarat as a lecturer in law and science fellow for the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic. Pawasarat has experience working on numerous environmental projects for both a community health center and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Her work included research support for EPA Superfund projects and outreach for lead abatement and lead educational programs. She also has done extensive volunteer work. A former student consultant for the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, she majored in environmental studies and minored in biology and anthropology.

Student environmental initiatives helped by Luce

A $450,000 grant from The Henry Luce Foundation will boost the experiential learning opportunities provided by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, through which students provide pro bono legal and technical services to environmental and community organizations. 

Housed in the School of Law, the IEC has about 36 students throughout the academic year and as many as eight students during the summary actively engaged in legal and technical cases on behalf of non-profit organizations.

Some of the clinic’s most recent cases include the Missouri Coalition for the Environment’s initiative to address lead contamination in Herculaneum, No.; a Sierra Club challenge against the construction and expansion of coal-fired power plants in Kansas City, Mo., which resulted in a precedent-setting settlement addressing global warming; and a victory for the American Bottom Conservancy in an important Clean Water Act case in East St. Louis, Ill.

The Henry Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by the late Henry R. Luce, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc. Its assets of approximately $800 million support the foundation’s interests in the interdisciplinary exploration of higher education, increased understanding between Asia and the United States, religion and theology, American art, opportunities for women in science and engineering, and environmental and public policy programs.

To view the complete article, click on: http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/9616.html   [posted 6/15/07]

Environmental Clearinghouse Web Site – a legal resource for communities

With support from the Rockefeller Family Fund, the IEC has developed the Environmental Clearinghouse Web site at http://ec.wustl.edu. The Environmental Clearinghouse (EC) Web site is designed for use primarily by environmental and community organizations, and environmental law clinics. 

To help community groups overcome the challenges of locating experts when they face complex issues such as permit reviews or critiquing technical reports, the site features the Environmental Experts Directory. This confidential database lists technical experts willing to work for public interest groups on environmental cases. Users can access profiles of experts in a range of fields. Users can also visit the experts’ web sites, or view resumes or curriculum vitae or other lengthy documents.  

The experts listed in the directory represent a broad spectrum of fields including energy, environmental health, water quality, air pollution, economics, endangered and threatened species, factory farm waste, and medical waste. Access to the Environmental Experts Directory is restricted to environmental advocates because these groups are often involved in adversarial proceedings with private industry and public agencies. 

The EC site also includes links to environmental data and agencies, legal research sources, citizen groups and advocacy organizations, environmental attorneys, and other resources.

Clinic Student Speaks on behalf of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment

Since 2001, the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic has been working on behalf of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment to address lead contamination in Herculaneum, Missouri. The nation’s largest primary lead smelter has been operating in Herculaneum, amidst a community of some 2,800 residents and alongside the Mississippi River, since the 1890’s. Over the years, the Clinic has worked on issues involving relocation of families living nearby the smelter, as well as cleanup of contaminated homes, yards, and streets. 

Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to revise the state’s plan for bringing the Herculaneum community into compliance with the EPA’s health-based air standard for lead. DNR published its plan for public comment, and held a hearing on March 20, 2007 in Herculaneum. On behalf of the Coalition, the Clinic’s Awanatu Koroma, a second-year law student certified under the Missouri Student Practice Rule, spoke at the public hearing and urged the DNR to strengthen the plan.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the hearing.  [view article]

Precedent-Setting Global Warming Settlement Reached in Environmental Clinic Case

2007 March - One of the biggest cases in the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic over the past two years has involved our representation of the Sierra Club in challenging the construction of a new, coal-fired power plant, and the expansion of an existing plant already on the site, in metropolitan Kansas City. After extensive advocacy and litigation, the case settled yesterday with the utility, Kansas City Power and Light, making the most significant carbon reduction commitments of any utility in the Midwest.

Press coverage of the settlement can be found at: 

The following students worked on this case: 

  • Current law students: Veronica  Boyer, Daniel Kuehnert, Maureen Mahon, Selena Nelson, Michael Russell, Brian Schnall, Sarah Tupper, Benedict Warr. 
  • Former law students: Jamie Basham Carr. Matthew Johnson, Bradley Levine 
  • Student consultants (non-law students from Arts & Sciences and Engineering Schools): Brian Maurizi (PhD candidate in Math), Lonia Friedlander, Jessica Mohatt.
  • Former undergraduates: Hilary Blaker, Maya Buchanan, Alison Drain, Matthew Klasen

Clinic Garners Clean Water Act Victory

The School of Law’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic recently won a significant victory for its client, the American Bottom Conservancy, in an important Clean Water Act case in Illinois.  The Conservancy, a small grassroots group based in East St. Louis, sought a public hearing on a permit issued to a major source of pollution into Horseshoe Lake. The Lake is located in a state park about 10 miles east of St. Louis and is heavily used by area residents, many of whom eat fish caught there.   

The clinic filed the case on behalf of the Conservancy in May 2006 to challenge the Illinois EPA’s issuance of the permit without first holding a public hearing. The case was filed with the Illinois Pollution Control Board in Springfield, Illinois, which is an oversight body that hears appeals of the Illinois EPA’s decisions. The permit was issued to U.S. Steel, which reportedly discharges 15-20 million gallons of wastewater each day that contains, among other things, ammonia, cyanide, oil, grease, heavy metals, and oxygen depleting chemicals. 

Third-year law student Beth Mushill and environmental studies undergraduate student Morgan Raskin prepared the case for trial, which included witness interviews, written discovery, and depositions.  Beth then took first chair at the November trial, including giving an opening statement, examining several witnesses, responding to objections from opposing counsel, and answering questions from the administrative law judge. In late January, the Illinois Pollution Control Board issued an order voiding the facility’s permit because a public hearing had not been held.  

“I grew up in Granite City, where Horseshoe Lake is located, so this was a double victory for me,” Mushill said. “Not only was I able to win the case for American Bottom Conservancy, but I also had the pleasure of knowing that this decision should lead to a cleaner, more protected Horseshoe Lake.” 

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This page last updated 5/2/08

 

Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic