Federal agencies weigh in on the Harpeth River

The U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Justice weighed in to support SELC's right to bring a citizen lawsuit against the city of Franklin's sewage treatment plant for its ongoing pollution of the Harpeth River.  

According to Managing Attorney Anne Davis, “We are not aware of any other citizen suits in Tennessee in which federal regulators and prosecutors have filed a friend of the court brief, a move that highlights the gravity of Franklin’s attempts to undermine the Clean Water Act.”

Harpeth River Watershed Association's Board President Matt Dobson said, “The association appreciates the rare step the [federal agencies] took…to confirm that citizens like us may indisputably enforce a law designed to protect public health and the environment. We have renewed optimism that our efforts will result in improving the water quality to meet state-required standards for this Tennessee gem that belongs to everyone.”

Read the full text of the article in The Tennesseean (by Jill Cowan on February 24, 2015)

Photo credit: Tom Frundle