SELC Appeals Harmful Clean Water Injunction

BRUNSWICK, GA– On behalf of National Wildlife Federation and One Hundred Miles, the Southern Environmental Law Center today appealed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia to preliminarily enjoin the Clean Water Rule in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and seven other states across the country.

“Clean water is fundamental to our health and way of life, and communities throughout the South rely on critical safeguards to their water,” said Blan Holman, managing attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Charleston office. “The court wrongly decided to put a hold on those safeguards. We are doing everything we can, including this appeal, to make sure important clean water protections are not lost in these attacks from industry and politicians.”

For nearly 50 years, the Clean Water Act has provided essential protections to streams, rivers, and wetlands—and given state and local governments tools to keep our water clean. This case, brought by a number of activist state attorney generals and joined by industry, challenges a rule clarifying the waterways protected under the Clean Water Act. Without the clarity provided by the Clean Water Rule, the agencies are forced to apply a case-by-case scheme that fails to protect streams and wetlands.

In this case, SELC was recently allowed to intervene and defend these important safeguards when this administration refused to do so. The Southern Environmental Law Center also is challenging the EPA’s recent efforts to suspend and weaken clean water protections in a federal court in Charleston.

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For more than 30 years, the Southern Environmental Law Center has used the power of the law to champion the environment of the Southeast. With over 80 attorneys and nine offices across the region, SELC is widely recognized as the Southeast’s foremost environmental organization and regional leader. SELC works on a full range of environmental issues to protect our natural resources and the health and well-being of all the people in our region. www.SouthernEnvironment.org