PEAC Casts Perfect Storm Against DEQ

June 16, 2009 -- PEAC just finalized a settlement agreement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”), which requires DEQ to implement a new system for regulating industrial stormwater discharges, replacing its current illegal general permit scheme.

PEAC commenced this lawsuit against DEQ, on behalf of Northwest Environmental Defense Center and Columbia Riverkeeper, to address DEQ’s failure to regulate adequately one of the largest sources of water pollution in Oregon.

The settlement will result in a complete revision to the current permitting scheme, and will result in more stringent limits on discharges, more frequent and meaningful monitoring of discharges, and a greatly strengthened role for citizens in monitoring and enforcing stormwater controls.

Staff attorney, Dan Mensher, will continue to push for more improvements in stormwater regulation as a member of the newly-formed Advisory Committee which will help to guide DEQ as it implements the new permit and the terms of the settlement agreement.

PEAC Tackles 21st Century Transit

Is making way for more cars and trucks the best way to address transit needs and global warming?

Mar. 30, 2009 -- Increased tensions over the Columbia River Crossing project surfaced last week in The Oregonian's editorial Betting on the Wrong Bridge. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) was quick to respond with a Letter to the Editor published this past weekend.

Feb. 26, 2009 -- The Columbia River Crossing project won an award for its analysis of greenhouse gas emissions. In today's edition of The Oregonian, PEAC's managing attorney Tom Buchele "blasted the award as a sign of how poor the standards are for environmental analysis." Check out the full story.

Feb. 25, 2009 -- The Portland City Council voted to approve the latest bridge plan. Check out the KGW article and video and a guest opinion article in The Oregonian written by Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard.

Read more about PEAC's advocacy concerning the $4.2 billion proposed I-5 bridge in Portland.

PEAC Sues PGE Over Coal Fire Emissions

Apr. 22, 2009 -- The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said today that no new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States. Read the Greenwire article.

Jan. 30, 2009 -- Representing a coalition of Oregon's leading conservation groups, PEAC filed comments today regarding the DEQ's Regional Haze Plan and BART Rule, which powerfully conveyed the belief "that the best outcome for the environment and electricity payers is the early and complete cessation of pollution accomplished through a binding commitment to shut the [PGE Boardman] plant down." Click here to read a copy of the filed comments.

Jan. 14, 2009 -- PEAC staff attorney Aubrey Baldwin speaks out about PGE's coal-fired power plant in Boardman. Read more about the clash over proposed state DEQ rules in the Daily Journal Commerce article.

Sept. 30, 2008 -- PEAC filed a complaint against Portland General Electric’s Boardman facility for past and continuing violations of the Clean Air Act and Oregon State Implementation Plan. Representing several conservation groups, PEAC notified PGE of its intention to sue in January 2008, but because the alleged violations were not remedied, PEAC filed a formal complaint with the federal court of Oregon.

Aug. 14, 2008 -- A PEAC-led coalition that uncovered Clean Air Act violations at the PGE-Boardman plant calls the state's plan to reduce pollution inadequate. Today's press releases from DEQ and our clients are only part of the story. Hear PEAC attorney Aubrey Baldwin's comments on OPB.

For more information about PEAC’s high-profile law suit against PGE, visit our AIR page.

PEAC Rocks the Boat to Halt the Dock

Does the Willamette River and its critical habitat really need another dock for yachts?

Mar. 6, 2009 -- PEAC submitted its motion for summary judgment and opening brief challenging the renewed yacht dock permit.

Jan. 2009 -- PEAC filed a supplemental complaint on behalf of NEDC challenging the reissued permit. Among its many flaws, the decision authorizing the dock completely ignores nearby Tryon Creek.

Sept. 11, 2008 -- PEAC's work on behalf of NEDC resulted in a federal agency's suspension of the new permit allowing the City of Lake Oswego to build a large boat dock on the Willamette River near the mouth of Tryon Creek. Our work called attention to the dock area as critical habitat to four threatened salmon and steelhead runs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted work on the project pending evaluation of the dock's potential impacts to these species and their habitat. However, only 10 weeks later, they issued a new BiOp and a new permit.

Aug. 2008 -- On behalf of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC), PEAC filed its initial complaint challenging the US Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) approval of a new dock on the Willamette River. One claim in particular noted that the Biological Opinion regarding the dock completely failed to address impacts on salmonid critical habitat.

Read press from the Oregonian, Portland Tribune, and Lake Oswego Review

Read more about PEAC's advocacy concerning the proposed boat dock on the Willamette.

PEAC Finalizes Settlement with Paper Polluter

Dec. 19, 2008 -- Representing Willamette Riverkeeper, PEAC finalized a settlement agreement today with Blue Heron Paper Company, a major contributor of polluted water to the Willamette River.

Building off of PEAC's December 2007 victory against DEQ for improperly allowing Blue Heron to violate Water Quality Standards, this new settlement agreement will produce significant and long-lasting benefits for the environment.

Blue Heron has agreed to reduce its water intake and discharge by nearly 40%, and reduce its discharge of a host of pollutants, including temperature, turbidity, and aluminum. These improvements to the environment will be important for threatened salmon--which depend on cool, clean water--and other users of the Willamette River.

Staff attorney Dan Mensher currently leads the case, assisted by PEAC student Julie Nimnicht. The December 2007 victory was led by Melissa Powers, former PEAC staff attorney and current professor at Lewis & Clark law school.

PEAC Sues Grabhorn Over Toxic Trash

June 5, 2009 -- PEAC has moved for summary judgment against Grabhorn, Inc., the unlined landfill on the banks of the Tualatin River, for its violations of the Clean Water Act. PEAC filed this case on behalf of Northwest Environmental Defense Center and the Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge a year ago in order to protect water quality in the Tualatin River and prevent the Refuge and surrounding ecosystem from being harmed by the landfill’s illegal and unregulated discharges.

Dan Mensher, who is leading the case for PEAC, recently finished briefing the summary judgment motion and responding to Grabhorn’s cross-motion for summary judgment. The case revolves around the extent of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction and whether a set of ponds that are separated from the Tualatin River by a soil berm--into which Grabhorn, Inc. discharges a host of pollutants--are waters of the United States.

Read the opening brief and reply and response to the defendant's cross-motion. Oral argument is set for later this summer.

Jan. 15, 2009 -- Lawsuits over Grabhorn landfill continue to pile up. Catch the latest in the Beaverton Valley Times.

May 7, 2008 -- PEAC filed suit against Grabhorn, Inc., which operates one of the last unlined landfills in the Portland Metro region, for violations of the Clean Water Act.

Read the complaint.

The Lakeside Reclamation Landfill, located on the banks of the Tualatin River a mere 1,250 feet upstream from the Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge, is discharging toxic pollutants, threatening the health of the local ecosystem, which includes endangered salmon, rare amphibians, and countless bird species. The 50-year-old unlined landfill has contaminated local groundwater, threatening drinking water supplies and interfering with one of the Willamette Valley's finest wineries. PEAC's suit seeks to ensure that current pollution discharges are halted, and that the river, wildlife and local economy are protected long after the landfill is shut down.

Read about this case in The Oregonian, The Beaverton Valley Times and The Tigard Times.

Find out about PEAC's other water work.