Scott Fulton, President, Environmental Law Institute

Blue Mountains Conservation Society ('BMCS') commenced proceedings in the Land and Environment Court seeking a declaration that Delta Electricity ('Delta') had polluted the waters of the Cox’s River in New South Wales, in contravention of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. BMCS contended that the proceedings were brought in the public interest and filed a notice of motion...

This case addressed the question whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could assert jurisdiction over isolated intrastate waters solely because those waters did or potentially could serve as habitat of migratory birds. The petitioner in the case was a consortium of suburban Chicago municipalities. They contacted the respondents, the Army Corps of Engineers, to determine if a landfill permit was...

This case dealt with the question whether a minimum stream flow requirement was a permissible condition under a certification according to §401 of the Clean Water Act.
The petitioners, a city and a local utility district, wanted to build a hydroelectric project on the Dosewallips River, which would significantly reduce the water flow in the relevant part of the River. In order to protect the River...

This case dealt with the definition of the term “discharge” according to the Clean Water Act. Petitioner Warren Co. asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to renew federal licenses for five of the hydroelectric dams it operated on a Maine river to generate power for its paper mill. Each dam impounded water, which was then run through turbines and returned to the riverbed, passing...

In this case the petitioner wanted some steps to be taken for seeing that the soft drinks which are sold in the market are not polluted or contaminated. The petitioner also sought for regular testing of the bottle or can of soft drinks which are from time to time sold in the open market retail as well as otherwise. The petitioner also sought for a direction and thereby wanted a control on the...

This writ petition filled by way of a Public Interest Litigation seeking writ, order or direction against Rajasthan Pollution Control Board to take immediate steps against unauthorized factories and restrain them from discharging toxic wastes and effluents into the canal and land and secondly to direct the concerned authority to check the raising of unauthorized construction of factories without...

This case dealt with the questions whether pure drinking water was a matter of right and to what extent the welfare state was responsible for providing pure drinking water to its people. The Petitioner argued that the Nepal Drinking Water Corporation distributed contaminated water, collected fees even from places it did not distribute water to, and that its officials were not accountable. The...