Today, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a ruling in favor of our clients, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and Nuclear Watch New Mexico, as well as the Natural Resources Defense Council, finding that the Department of Energy (“DOE”) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (“NNSA”) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) by failing to take a hard look at serious seismic risks to aging, dilapidated nuclear weapons facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The NNSA had previously decided to continue enriching uranium for nuclear weapons in facilities originally built during the Manhattan Project and the Cold War, while rejecting calls for the agency to seriously consider new information showing increased risks of large earthquakes that could damage or even destroy these buildings, potentially causing a catastrophic release of nuclear and toxic contamination. Recognizing the fundamental importance of our clients’ claims, the court found it was “hard-pressed to imagine a more dramatic hypothetical than this, where it must contemplate what might occur if a major earthquake struck a nuclear weapons manufacturing facility located in a major population center.” Reasoning that the NNSA “blatantly disregarded” its own regulations in dismissing our clients’ serious concerns about seismic risks, the Court vacated the NNSA’s decisions and NEPA analyses and remanded the issue to the agency for a more thorough evaluation of these risks.
Bill Eubanks Selected by Law360 as a Top Environmental Lawyer
This week, the national legal publication Law360 selected Bill Eubanks as one of the nation’s five best environmental attorneys under the age of 40, based on his stellar record of winning difficult cases and setting important precedents on many legal issues of first impression in federal courts throughout the country. According to Law360, this is the first time that this award has been bestowed on a public interest litigator. Bill recently sat down with Law360 to discuss his accomplishments and vision for the future of environmental law.
Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Case to Enforce FOIA’s Proactive Disclosure Mandate
Today, the district court for the Western District of New York denied a motion to dismiss a case that we brought on behalf of our clients, the Animal Welfare Institute and Farm Sanctuary. The case aims to compel the United States Department of Agriculture and its Food Safety and Inspection Service to obey the proactive disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) by placing certain records related to farm animal welfare online, including records of non-compliance with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. Our clients and others use these records to monitor the agencies’ enforcement (or lack of enforcement) of these important statutes and to advocate for more effective enforcement, statutory and regulatory reform, and improved treatment of farm animals. As such, our clients and others have a long history of frequently requesting these records under FOIA. FOIA, in turn, requires agencies to place certain frequently records online without burdening the public with the need to file repeated FOIA requests for essentially the same information—a requirement that federal agencies often ignore. Today’s ruling is an important victory that brings our clients one step closer to enforcing FOIA’s proactive disclosure mandate.
Comments Filed with FERC on Harmful LNG Pipeline and Export Facility
On behalf of our client Natural Resources Defense Council, we prepared comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline and export terminal in Oregon. The Pacific Connector pipeline and the associated Jordan Cove LNG export terminal would traverse hundreds of miles of federal land, harm numerous federally protected species, including the iconic spotted owl, adversely impact local communities, and exacerbate climate change. Our comments raised a host of important issues that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies must consider before issuing any approval for this harmful and ill-conceived project.
Lawsuit Filed to Protect Unique Wildlife and Historic Resources in the Nebraska Sand Hills
Grand opening of Eubanks & Associates, LLC on July 1
On July 1, 2019, Eubanks & Associates, LLC will officially open its law offices in Washington, DC and Fort Collins, Colorado. Eubanks & Associates, LLC is a distinguished public interest law firm focused on environmental, public health, animal, and open government issues. The firm specializes in impact litigation in federal appellate and trial courts. We are excited to carry on the tradition of Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks LLP, where the new firm’s attorneys worked prior to its closure on June 30, 2019.