Farm tile drains are not a point-source of pollution under the Clean Water Act, even if the outflows contain contaminated groundwater. So ruled Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in dismissing a citizen suit that sought to require some farmers to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination […]
Citizen Suit Goes Down The Drain in Farm Tile Case Read More »
Ignorance of the law excuses no man. Not that all men know the law, but because ‘tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him. That sentiment, expressed by John Selden, a 16th Century English judge, still holds true today. However, with all due respect to our country’s
EPA Steps Up Criminal Enforcement Efforts Against Livestock Farmers Read More »
A District Court judge in West Virginia is forcing EPA to defend a challenge to a now-withdrawn Administrative Compliance Order (“ACO”) related to “dust and feather” discharges from a broiler facility. In one of the first post-Sackett challenges to an EPA ACO under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), a West Virginia poultry producer sued EPA
In an important ruling that will almost certainly be appealed, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently held that several animal rights activists groups are jointly and severally liable for the attorney’s fees Feld Entertainment, the producer of Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus (“Ringling”), spent defending an Endangered Species Act
Animal Activist Groups Saddled With Attorney’s Fees for “Groundless” Lawsuit Read More »
There have been new developments in the Alt v. EPA case (AgFDABlog first reported on this case in October). EPA bit off more than it could chew when it went after Lois Alt – a West Virginia chicken farmer who is not afraid of a fight. Now, facing a lawsuit from Alt and opposition from
Chicken Farmer, American Farm Bureau Don’t Want to Let EPA Off the Hook Read More »
In a decision with potentially broad implications, the Eleventh Circuit recently concluded that it lacked original subject matter jurisdiction over petitions for review of an EPA rule which freed federal, state and municipal agencies from obtaining a Clean Water Act permit for certain water transfers. In Friends of the Everglades v. EPA, the Circuit Court
Splish/Splash: No Original Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over EPA’s Water Transfer Rule Read More »
On October 9, 2012, a federal judge in Elkins, West Virginia, issued an order allowing the American Farm Bureau Federation and the West Virginia Farm Bureau (Farm Bureau) to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a West Virginia poultry producer against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Alt v. EPA. The Farm Bureau’s intervention will result
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