CLEAN WATER PRESS RELEASES

Ruling Opens Season on N. C. Trout Streams for Golf Course Developers

Downstream Users and River Advocates Challenge Paper Mill Permit

Downstream users and river advocates today challenged a North Carolina Division of Water Quality wastewater permit that fails to require adequate reductions in color and thermal pollutants being discharged by the Blue Ridge Paper Products mill into the Pigeon River in Haywood County, North Carolina, about 40 miles from the Tennessee border.

EPA Proposes National Safeguards on Coal Ash

After years of delay, tragedy in Tennessee, EPA proposes regulatory options but stops short of issuing a strict rule

Clarify Legal Protections for Streams and Wetlands

SELC welcomes the introduction of a bi-partisan compromise in the U.S. House of Representatives that restores long overdue protections for streams and wetlands.

World experts on uranium mining featured at Richmond forum

More than 150 people attended a symposium in Richmond today to hear from five experts from around the world on the human, environmental and economic impacts of uranium mining. The experts have witnessed first-hand the operations and impacts of uranium mines in the U.S. and around the globe, and have written extensively on issues of water quality and health consequences, as well as economic and community impacts.

River Advocates Allege Clean Water Act Violations By N. C. Hog Operation

River advocates served legal notice to a large industrialized hog operation in eastern North Carolina for violations of the Clean Water Act.

Catawba River Interbasin Transfer Controversy Resolved

Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, Inc. and SELC reached an agreement with cities to significantly reduce the amount of water transferred out of the Catawba River in North Carolina during drought conditions.

Groups Appeal for Environmental Review of Titan Cement Plant

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.

Clean Water Groups Challenge Massive Coal Mine in Alabama's Black Warrior Watershed

The Southern Environmental Law Center today petitioned for a hearing on a permit issued last month for a 3,255-acre coal mine in Blount County. The proposed mine would have more than 60 pollution discharge points into the main stem or feeder streams of the Locust Fork, a tributary of the Black Warrior River that is already on the state's list of the worst polluted streams.

N. C. Trout Breathe Easier After Court Ruling

The N.C. Court of Appeals this week upheld the state’s protective buffer for trout streams in a victory for North Carolina’s water quality, according to the SELC.

Jordan Lake Petition Response Raises Questions

After Durham County miscounted properties belonging to petition signatories, its announcement yesterday that a citizens’ petition is invalid without specific explanation and citizens must sue for reconsideration only raises questions, according to the SELC and Haw River Assembly.

Durham Mistake Means Protest Petition Stands

The Durham City-County Planning Department miscounted the amount of affected land owned by signatories to a protest petition and improperly invalidated a protest petition filed on October 5 ahead of the vote by the Durham Board of County Commissioners, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center and Haw River Assembly. On October 12, the county commissioners’ 3-2 vote to move the critical area boundary fell short of the 4-1 vote required by the valid protest petition so Jordan Lake watershed boundaries could not be amended.

Conservationists back USFS action to restore water quality in NC's Tellico ORV area

Final decision announced today by the U.S. Forest Service as a win-win approach to resolving the problem.

EPA Clears Up Stormwater Program

An audit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that Shelby County's stormwater management program falls far short of numerous federal requirements aimed at keeping polluted runoff from reaching streams, rivers and ground water.

Judge Rules in Tri-State Water Wars that Atlanta Can't Take Water from Lake Lanier

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson issued a decision today in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint phase of the years-long tri-state water wars between Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Immediate Action Needed after NC Tops EPA’s List for High Hazard Coal Ash Waste Sites, says SELC

EPA’s recent finding that North Carolina has the most coal combustion waste sites posing a high hazard to the public—12 of the 44 sites nationwide.

EPA Must Protect North Carolina's Fisheries after Army Corps of Engineers Fails to Address Grave Concerns about PCS’ Mine Expansion

Protection of North Carolina’s economic diversity, natural wealth and people hinges on the Environmental Protection Agency.

Interior Secretary Salazar seeks to vacate rule that allowed coal industry to ruin Appalachian streams

A key claim in SELC's lawsuit was that the Bush administration failed to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for impacts to at-risk species before issuing the rule, as required by the Endangered Species Act.

Groups File Suit to Block State Air Pollution Permit for Unneeded Pee Dee Coal Plant

South Carolina’s environmental agency illegally permitted coal-fired power plant.

US Forest Service proposes closing ORV area in North Carolina to protect water quality

In an environmental assessment issued today, the U.S. Forest Service found that muddy runoff from off-road vehicle use in the designated Tellico River ORV area in the Nantahala National Forest has caused significant and extensive damage to water quality throughout the Tellico watershed.

SELC Outlines Minimum Coal Waste Safeguards Necessary to Protect Environment, Public Health & Safety

Following Congressional pledges for EPA regulation of coal waste after the catastrophic waste spill in Tennessee and a second spill in Alabama, the Southern Environmental Law Center today outlined the minimum safeguards necessary to protect the environment and public health and safety from coal waste.

Second Spill of Coal Waste Adds Urgency to Need for Regulation and Oversight

Today’s second spill of coal waste from a TVA coal-fired power plant into Widows Creek in northeast Alabama adds urgency to the need for regulation of coal waste.

Top 10 Most Endangered Areas in the South for 2009

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.

Flood of Coal Waste in TN Demonstrates Dangers and Need for Regulation, says SELC

A December 22 flood of toxic coal sludge—enough to fill 798 Olympic-size swimming pools—in Tennessee demonstrates the dangers of burning coal and underscores the need for stringent regulation of coal waste, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center.

ADEM sued for permitting coal mine that poses risk to Birmingham drinking water

Conservationists filed a lawsuit today challenging a state permit for a proposed strip coal mine in Alabama, which would discharge pollutants into the Black Warrior River, less than a quarter mile from an intake for one of Birmingham's major sources of drinking water.

Conservation groups take legal action to defend trout streams, water quality in Tellico area

Conservation groups from two states today took legal action to protect water quality in the Tellico River area in the Nantahala National Forest.

Sprawl, population growth, lack of planning are among factors in Southern drought

Despite the rain from recent hurricanes that has fallen across the Southeast, much of the region remains firmly in the grip of drought conditions

Court of Appeals builds on lower court ruling to give stronger protections to state’s waters

The Court of Appeals today strengthened protections for the state’s lakes and rivers by confirming a lower court’s decision that the state has a duty under federal and state law to protect existing uses of surface waters.

Forest Service threatened with lawsuit for protecting
Tellico River watershed

Three organizations that promote motorized recreation on public lands issued a press statement late Thursday threatening to sue the U.S. Forest Service for closing several miles of off-road vehicle trails in the Tellico ORV Area of the Nantahala Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina.

State asked to review water quality certification for
Pee Dee River

The Southern Environmental Law Center and the Natural Heritage Institute, representing the City of Rockingham and American Rivers, have asked a court to review the state's decision to issue a water quality certification to Progress Energy for the operation of the Tillery Dam in Montgomery County.