Order, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 10-cv-1715 (E.D. La.) (The Court granted summary judgment that the Corps violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act by selecting a “deep-draft” plan for its billion dollar Industrial Canal lock replacement project without considering the effect of closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet on the need for a deep-draft canal. The Court noted: “On its face this seems to be the proverbial bridge to nowhere; namely, constructing a deep-draft lock which will never be used by deep-draft traffic.”) (112-004.1) (9/9/11)
Order, Gulf Restoration Network v. Hancock County Development, LLC, 08-cv-00186 (S.D. Miss.) (Granting summary judgment that the defendant violated the Clean Water Act when, to construct a residential development near Bay St. Louis, it discharged storm water to area streams without an EPA permit and destroyed wetlands without a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Court also found that the Plaintiff has standing to prosecute the lawsuit.) (157-019) (2/22/2011)
Order and Reasons, Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. Sun Drilling Products Corp., No. 09-cv-7389 (E.D. La.) (Granting summary judgment that the Defendant is liable for Clean Water Act violations and that the Plaintiff has standing to sue) (101-120) (12/2/10)
Order and Reasons, Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. Sun Drilling Products Corp., No. 09-cv-7389 (E.D. La.) (Denying a Motion to Dismiss based on pending state enforcement (101-120) (6/8/10)
Order and Reasons, Concerned Citizens Around Murphy v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., No. 08-4986 (E.D. La.) (Ruling that an oil refinery in Meraux, Louisiana violated the Clean Air Act on twenty-one occasions) (161-003) (2/3/10)
Order, Gulf Restoration Network v. Hancock County Development, LLC, 08-cv-00186-LG-RHW (S.D. Miss.) (Rejecting a developer’s argument that an Army Corps of Engineers’ Notice of Violation protected the developer from citizen enforcement for destroying wetlands) (157-019) (11/16/09)
Opinion, Oakville Community Action Group v. Plaquemines Parish Council, No 2008-CA-1286 (La. App. 4th Cir.) (Reversing the 25th Judicial District Court and “thereby revoking the coastal use permit that the [Plaquemines Parish] Council issued” for expansion of the Industrial Pipe landfill into coastal wetlands) (104-014) (2/18/09)
Order Denying Motion To Dismiss, Gulf Restoration Network v. Hancock County Development, No. 08-186 (S.D. Miss.) (finding that the Plaintiff’s Clean Water Act Notice of Violation “was sufficient to permit the Defendants to identify the specific standard, limitation, or order alleged to have been vio`lated, the location of the alleged violations, and the dates of the alleged violations”) (157-019) (2/3/09)
Order and Reasons, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 03-0370 (E.D. La.) (Awarding attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act) (112-002) (05-30-08)
Judgment, In re: Waste Management of Louisiana, LLC, Woodside Landfill Air Permitting Decisions, No. 529640 (La. App. 1st Cir.) (Vacating a landfill permit for failure to obtain “prevention of significant deterioration” review under the Clean Air Act (101-093) (8/22/07)
Opinion, Loretto O’Reilly, Hazel Sinclair and Kelly Fitzmaurice v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 04-31026 (5th Cir.) (Upholding a district court’s finding that the U.S. Army Corps violated NEPA when approving a proposed subdivision (“Timber Branch II”) that would destroy 85 acres of forest, of which 39.5 acres are wetlands, in St. Tammany Parish) (110-004) (1/24/07)
Opinion, South Coast Air Quality Management District v. EPA, No. 04-1200 (D.C. Cir.) (Overturning EPA rules that rolled back Clean Air Act protections for areas that fail to comply with the health protection standard for ozone pollution) (101-078) (12/22/06)
Order and Reasons, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 03-0370 (E.D. La.) (Finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “failed to take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts and consequences of dredging and disposing of the [Industrial] canal’s contaminated sediment” and enjoining the Corps “from continuing with the Project until it complies with NEPA.” (112-002) (10/4/06)
Order and Reasons, St. Bernard Citizens For Environmental Quality and Louisiana Bucket Brigade v. Chalmette Refining, LLC, No. 04-0398 (E.D. La.) (Summary judgment finding more than 2600 violations of the Clean Air Act at a oil refinery in St. Bernard Parish) (151-001) (10/14/05)
Judgment, George Washington, Concerned Citizens of St. Helena Parish and Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. St. Helena Parish Police Jury, No. 18370 (21st Jud. Dist.) (Vacating a 50-year contract with MMR St. Helena, LLC for a landfill as outside the powers of the police jury and for violations of the Open Meetings Law) (101-077) (6/7/05)
Opinion, Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. EPA, No. 02-60991 (5th Cir.) (noting the Court’s remand of an EPA attempt to extend the five parish Baton Rouge nonattainment area’s deadline for meeting the health protection standard for ozone air pollution, noting the Court’s vacatur of an EPA attempt to approve a trade-off of increased emissions of volatile organic compounds for decreased emissions of nitrogen oxides in the same area (inter-pollutant trading), and vacating EPA’s approval of a contingency plan for the area based on historical emission reductions from a facility located outside of the area) (101-040) (9/8/04)
Order and Reasons, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 03-0370 (E.D. La.) (Denying the Army Corp’s motion to dismiss a challenge under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to the Corps’ plans to dredge contaminated sediments in the Industrial Canal) (112-002) (11/4/03)
Judgment, O’Reilly v. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, No. 509564 (19th Jud. Dist.) (Ordering LDEQ “to prepare an environmental analysis in compliance with . . . La. Const. Art. IX § 1” before issuing a CWA § 401 water quality certification for destruction of 39.5 acres of wetlands in St. Tammany Parish) (110-001) (3/5/04)
Oral Reasons, In re Waste Management, No. 492,277 (19th Jud. Dist.) (rejecting a challenge to student practice under Louisiana Supreme Court Rule XX) (4/8/02)
Summary Judgment, Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. Whitman, No. 00-879-A (M.D. La.) (Ordering EPA to determine whether to the Baton Rouge “nonattainment area” had failed to attain the federal health protection standard for ozone pollution) (101-001) (2/27/02)
Order Granting Voluntary Remand (& Entry of Dismissal), Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. EPA, No. 99-60570 (5th Cir.) (10/19/00)
Judgment, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Citizens Protecting the Good Earth v. Fleet, No. 445,019 (19th Jud. Dist.) (Vacating a permit for a Non-Hazardous Oilfield Waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility near Gibson, Louisiana because of DNR’s failure to provide for comment on an environmental assessment) (102-001) (8/24/2000)
Ruling, Lake Peigneur Preservation and Beautification Association v. Herbert Thompson, No. 409,139 (19th Jud. Dist.) (Finding that the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has a constitutional duty to assess environmental impacts before permitting a proposed project that has the potential to significantly affect the environment) (1/15/97)