Waterkeeper Alliance Applauds Judge Nickerson’s Decision to Reject Perdue Request For Legal Fees
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
Statement by Marc Yaggi, executive director for Waterkeeper Alliance, on today’s order by U.S. District Court Judge William M. Nickerson to Deny Perdue Motion Requiring Waterkeeper Alliance to Pay $2.5 Million in Attorney Fees:
“We are pleased with Judge Nickerson’s decision to deny Perdue’s motion to require us to pay millions of dollars in their attorney fees in the case. There were alarmingly high levels of pollutants coming off the farm and large-scale poultry operations are having adverse impacts on the Chesapeake Bay. We are resolved to continue fighting for the Chesapeake Bay and other waters across the globe that are being poisoned by factory farms and other polluters.
Forty years ago, in response to a growing environmental crisis, Congress enacted the Clean Water Act, which was designed to protect the waters we use for swimming, drinking, and fishing from increasing degradation. Its goal was to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our nation’s waterways,” eliminate harmful discharges of pollution, and protect the nation’s wetlands. Since the 1970s, when most current environmental laws and regulations were created, private citizens have played a vital role in enforcing these mandates through the energetic use of the citizen suit provisions that are contained in major federal environmental laws.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is successful largely because it empowers ordinary citizens to participate in the implementation and enforcement of the program, providing the opportunity for each of us to act in a prosecutorial role. Waterkeeper Alliance and our 124 member organizations across the United States depend on these citizen suit provisions to help safeguard environmental and public health and safety and we are encouraged that Judge Nickerson recognizes the importance of maintaining these protections.”
For a copy of the Order, or for more information, please contact Blair FitzGibbon at 202-503-6141 or by email [email protected].
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Waterkeeper Alliance is a global environmental movement uniting more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations around the world and focusing citizen advocacy on the issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol more than 1.5 million square miles of watersheds in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa.
CONTACT:
Blair FitzGibbon, tel: 202-503-6141, email: [email protected]