Conservation groups are studying proposed rules released today by the National Park Service to govern off-road vehicle use at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Conservation groups today notified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of their intent to challenge its decision that no permits are required under the federal Clean Water Act before the development of approximately 500 acres of South Carolina wetlands in Black Tom Bay.
Conservation groups today challenged the U.S. Navy’s decision to build its $100 million Undersea Warfare Training Range next to the only known calving ground for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Despite opposition from fishermen, birders, local residents and two federal agencies, the Corps of Engineers illegally issued a permit for a proposed commercial marina in waters just north of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach, according to a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center today in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC.
Groups today appealed to Wake County Superior Court for a comprehensive review of public health and environmental impacts from the proposed Titan America cement plant after a N.C. Department of Administration ruling allowed the plant to go forward without such a review.
Six conservation groups today called on the NCDOT to build a safer, less-exposed emergency route for Outer Banks residents and tourists that is not dependent on the section of Highway 12 in Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge which was washed out last week during the remnants of tropical storm Ida.
A federal judge declined to enjoin construction of a container shipping terminal in North Charleston for now, but agreed to expand a lawsuit challenging approvals of the terminal to include the FHWA as a defendant.
Governor Perdue’s Department of Administration this week ruled that the full environmental impact of the proposed Titan America cement plant on surrounding areas--including New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties—does not need to be examined before North Carolina begins issuing permits for the plant.
In a letter to the EPA, SELC reveals major discharges of fish waste, comparable to the level of pollution discharged from D.C.'s huge Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant to the Bay.
As the 2009 nesting season ends at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, National Park Service reports indicate rare birds and sea turtles benefited in the second breeding season after an April 2008 consent agreement increased park protections for baby birds and sea turtles endangered by ORVs.
SELC today filed comments that urged the Obama Administration to protect the Atlantic coast and beaches of the South rather than drilling for the small amount of oil offshore.
The S.C. Supreme Court will review a challenge to state permits for the proposed container terminal at the Charleston Navy Base brought by the SELC on behalf of the Coastal Conservation League.
Environmental groups today asked the N.C. Department of Administration to rule whether the proposed Titan America cement plant’s environmental impact on surrounding areas must be examined before the state begins issuing permits.
U.S. Senator Hagan (D-NC) joined U.S. Senator Burr (R-NC) in a legislative move to withdraw national park protections for baby birds and sea turtles endangered by off-road vehicles.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia ruled that a logging company broke the law when it built a road and filled in wetlands without acquiring a proper permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act.
U.S. Navy proceeds with construction of its Undersea Warfare Training Range without first obtaining the required approvals for the whole project.
The Southern Environmental Law Center and S.C. Coastal Conservation League today asked a federal court in Charleston to delay construction of a container cargo terminal until the Federal Highway Administration evaluates whether 10,000 vehicles a day can be added safely to I-26, and whether rail options could divert cargo and prevent interstate gridlock.
The U.S. Navy's plans to use a marine area comprised of a protected area for snapper-grouper and adjacent to the only known calving ground for endangered North Atlantic right whales as an undersea warfare training range fail to adequately consider harmful environmental impacts.
In a major step toward reversing years of attacks on wetlands and water protections, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today passed the Clean Water Restoration Act (S.787) by a 12-7 vote.
The Environmental Protection Agency last night backed away from its earlier finding that an 11,000 acre mine expansion by PCS Phosphate posed “unacceptable harm” to critical wetlands and fisheries in the nation’s second largest estuary, the Albemarle-Pamlico, according to environmental groups. After elevating the permit to the national level in a rare move, EPA could have vetoed the destruction of 1,200 acres of the most critical wetlands and nurseries while still allowing continued mining by the company for 29 years.
Environmental groups today urged the Environmental Protection Agency to veto the mining of almost 1200 acres of critical wetlands and nurseries while still allowing continued PCS Phosphate mining of 11,000 acres in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to address serious concerns about irreversible harm during a rare national elevation of the mining permit.
Protection of North Carolina’s economic diversity, natural wealth and people hinges on the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Audubon Society today stepped in to defend the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s decision to designate portions of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge as critical habitat for wintering piping plovers.
For decades, the Clean Water Act has broadly protected America’s lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources from unregulated pollution and destruction, rescuing them from the dire straits they were in during the late 1960s and early 1970s. But because of a concerted effort by polluters and developers, and muddied rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, up to 60 percent (at least 15,000 important waters) have lost these vital protections and countless other waters (including more than 50 percent of our streams and 20 million acres of wetlands) are at risk of losing protections.
A federal court has overturned a permit issued by the Corps of Engineers for a massive impoundment in King William County, Virginia that would have resulted in the single largest, authorized loss of wetlands in the mid-Atlantic region in the last 37 years.
Rare decision reflects the agency’s determination that the project would cause harm to a nationally important body of water.
SELC has challenged a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers go-ahead to fill one of the largest remaining intact wetlands in an area near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
A permit issued by the N.C. Division of Water Quality illegally approves the largest destruction of wetlands in the state’s history by PCS Phosphate, according to papers filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center today in state administrative court. The permit presumes the state will write new rules that accommodate the company’s ambitions.
A joint statement from SELC, Audubon NC and Defenders of Wildlife on the conclusion of negotiated rulemaking for off road vehicle use in Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of itself and three organizations, has called on the U.S. Department of Interior to abandon plans to open the Virginia coast to oil or gas drilling.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the largest environmental advocacy organization dedicated solely to protecting the Southeast, today announced a list of ten special places in the South that face immediate, potentially irreparable threats in 2009.
The Georgia Supreme Court today issued a ruling in a case against the Coastal Marshlands Protection Committee of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which centered on a permit granted to the developer of Cumberland Harbour.
A dozen conservation organizations - including groups from four Atlantic states - joined forces this week to criticize the Navy's analysis of the environmental impacts of a proposed undersea warfare training area and sonar range off the coast of Georgia and Florida.
Nine of the state's most powerful conservation groups today condemned an attempt by PCS Phosphate Company, Inc. to get around environmental laws affecting its plans to extract phosphate ore in a mining operation that would destroy more than 4,000 acres of wetlands and five miles of streams in Beaufort County.
After just one season of limits on beach driving at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina, several protected bird and turtle species whose numbers were dwindling are making a comeback, according to Derb Carter, Director of the SELC's Carolinas Office.
Legislation that threatens to undermine an agreement on beach driving at Cape Hatteras National Seashore reached among beach drivers, local governments, the National Park Service and environmentalists could also thwart successful recovery efforts of birds and sea turtles, according to testimony given by Derb Carter of the Southern Environmental Law Center to members of the Senate.
After the Southern Environmental Law Center and Altamaha Riverkeeper requested that Georgia’s Office of State Administrative Hearings review a permit for a wastewater treatment facility on a small marsh hammock in McIntosh County, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division reversed course, admitting the permit was issued in error.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s decision to allow a wastewater treatment facility as part of a residential development on a small marsh hammock in McIntosh County has come under the scrutiny of the state.
A decision that will provide strengthened protection for forested wetlands throughout the United States and will protect Georgia’s coast from an abuse of tree harvesting operations was handed down recently by U.S. District Court Judge B. Avant Edenfield.
The number of birds nesting on Cape Hatteras National Seashore is already showing preliminary signs of recovery, less than a month after additional sections of the beach were closed under a new management plan that provides additional protection.
Later today, the Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release the final Environmental Impact Statement on Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS)’s request to expand its Aurora phosphate mine.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle today approved a consent decree offered by the three parties involved in a lawsuit to regulate beach driving along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, representing Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society, joined attorneys for the National Park Service, Dare and Hyde Counties, and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance in filing a proposed consent decree today in U.S. District Court, that, if accepted, will resolve a lawsuit challenging an interim NPS plan to protect wildlife from the impacts of beach driving along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Conservationists are asking a federal judge to suspend beach driving on portions of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore that have been identified as being most critical to threatened and endangered shorebirds in order to protect them before the upcoming breeding season begins.
In the absence of political, environmental or local support, the Navy today announced it is abandoning its plans to build an Outlying Landing Field in Washington and Beaufort counties in North Carolina.
