Environmental Law

People used to think that the environment and everything in it was at their disposal. Unfortunately this led to the degradation of the air, water, and land to the point where some places in this country are uninhabitable due to the amount of pollution. In some cases the pollution is unknown to the surrounding people, and they only discover they have been poisoned after their biopsies come back positive for cancer, or their unborn children suffer birth defects so drastic that they will never survive after birth.

The industries that pollute the environment often believe they can get away with their crimes due to the very nature of the incident. Environmental accidents can be the result of a small or subtle incident that slowly escalates into a major problem. Other times companies can attempt to dodge responsibility by using statistics and "evidence" to prove that their actions (or inactions) were justified at the time and did not cause any significant harm.

Common pollutants such as benzene, chromium, mercury, asbestos, and trichloroethylene pose serious health consequences to the public at large. These chemicals are known to cause a wide variety of health problems such as leukemia, birth defects, blindness, burns, cancer, sterility, and death. Industry, commercial production, power generation, and agricultural fields generate billions of gallons of poison every year, and careless or negligent companies sometimes fail to take responsibility for the harm they cause.

Human beings are not the only creatures affected by environmental pollutants. Plants and animals are just as susceptible to the harm caused by these dangerous chemicals, and thousands of farmers have lost untold sums of money in livestock and produce due to contaminants in the air, water, or soil. Most times these farmers have little recourse other than to accept the fact that their livelihood was destroyed by careless industries that put their profits ahead of their concern for the public.

Environmental law has become critically important in recent years as the results of abusing the planet are now coming to light. Thousands of people are potentially at risk of developing any number of serious health problems due to environmental pollutants, if not now than at some time in the future.

If you have suffered because of a situation caused by an environmental pollutant, you may be entitled to take legal action against those responsible for your condition. Do not hesitate to consult our dedicated and experienced environmental law attorneys immediately. It will be the best decision you ever make. Contact us today.

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Environmental Law News

In environmental law, on July 13 it was decided that an $8 million cleanup would take place on the St. Mary's River around the Tannery Bay located in Marie, Michigan. The funding will come in large part from the Great Lakes Legacy Act.

The work of dredging up 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment will be this month. This is about the size of a football field that is filled 24 feet high. Work on the project will continue until the fall. The area was contaminated with both mercury and chromium. St. Mary's River is a connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

The main source of the pollution to the river and bay came from the Northwestern Leather Co. Tannery that was in operation from 1900 to 1958. The pollution came from the company's by-products that were improperly dumped into ditched that led to the bay. The EPA cleaned up the original tannery site in 1999, due to environmental law procedures.

One of the results of the pollution in the lakes, rivers, and bays is that it is unsafe to consume the fish in unlimited quantities that live in those areas. The contaminated sediment also degrades the habitat and harms all aquatic life. It also affects the quality of the drinking water.

The EPA seeks to enhance the environment through its work as an environmental law agency. Other goals of the EPA are to improve the recreational and economic values of the community. With a cleaned up Tannery Bay, surrounding waterways will be cleaner and healthier as well.

Other funding for this environmental law project comes from Phelps Dodge, who used to own a tannery property by the bay. They will contribute a reported $2.6 million towards the clean up project. The third funding source comes from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. They will provide $600,000.

President Bush approved the Great Lakes Legacy Act in 2002. To date, the environmental law act has been responsible for cleaning up four other contaminated areas around the Great Lakes. In total, there are 31 toxic areas around the Great Lakes that will eventually be addressed by the Great Lakes Legacy Act. Another goal of the Legacy Act is to emphasize collaborative efforts between the government and community groups.

The clean up process for the river, established by environmental law is to dredge up the contaminated water and move it to a barge about three miles away. Then it will be drained of sludge and sent to a water treatment plant. The shoreline will then be restored and native plants will be replanted.

Environmental Law Statistics

Environmental pollution is one of the most underrated dangers in modern American. Millions of people face thousands of dangerous chemicals every day, often without their knowledge. The long term effects of chemicals such as benzene, arsenic, mercury, and lead are extremely dangerous, and can cause injuries that range from blindness, cancer, sterility, leukemia, and death. Some other disturbing environmental statistics include:

• 6,744,340 pounds of benzene is released every year. This chemical is so dangerous that the EPA must be alerted if only 10 lbs escape into the environment.
• Other common dangerous compounds dumped into the environment include:
• Lead compounds: 388,912,425 lbs. Commonly found in groundwater and can cause birth defects and neurological disorders.
• Ammonia: 151,805,024 lbs. Highly toxic byproduct of a number of industrial processes.
• Chromium compounds: 32,349,845 lbs. A carcinogenic material that can cause a range of different cancers.
• Cyanide compounds: 9,730,585 lbs. A deadly poison that absorbed into water or soil.
• Asbestos: 5,396,535 lbs. Dangerous fibrous material that can cause mesothelioma, a rare but deadly type of cancer.
• Mercury compounds: 5,044,217 lbs. Extremely toxic chemical frequently found in the air, soil, and water in thousands of locations in the United States.
• The top ten polluting facilities in the United States:
1. Red Dog Ops, Kotzebue, Alaska: 481,578,816 lbs
2. Newmont Mining Corp., Golconda, NV: 291,128,400 lbs
3. BHP Copper N.A., San Manuel, AZ: 248,695,440 lbs
4. Kennecott Utah Copper Mine Concentrators & Power Plant, Copperton, UT: 113,640,793 lbs
5. Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc, Elko NV: 79,410,838 lbs
6. Newmont Mining Corp., Valmy, NV: 58,686,703 lbs
7. Newmont Mining Corp., Carlin, NV: 43,143,578 lbs
8. Kennecott Greens Creek Mining Co., Juneau, AK: 37,103,243 lbs
9. Asarco Inc. Ray Complex Hayden Smelter & Concentrator, Hayden AZ: 34,941,191 lbs
10. US Ecology Idaho Inc., Grand View, ID: 28,895,378 lbs

Virtually every American is at risk of developing some form of health problem due to an environmental pollutant. If you or someone you love was the victim of the irresponsibility or negligence of an industry, corporation, or any other entity you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. Let our dedicated and experienced environmental law lawyers help you today.

Environmental Law Statute of Limitations

Just like murder, there is no statute of limitations for environmental law. This means that if a company intentionally pollutes the environment in 1950, they can still be tried for their crimes today.

An example of this statute of limitations is the case Mason v. Mobil Oil in 1985. The plaintiff purchased an abandoned gas station and five years later attempted to re-sell the property to the bank. It was at this time that they discovered the property had been contaminated with gasoline.

After learning of the contamination, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the people who sold them the property. One of the things the plaintiff wanted was to have the defendants pay for all of the clean up costs on the property. The plaintiff then hired a lawyer to re-draft the lawsuit, this time it also included Mobil Oil, who was the last company to use the property as a gas station.

Mobile Oil then requested to have the lawsuit dismissed because the statute of limitations for most injury to property lawsuits is six years in the state of New Jersey, where the lawsuit was filed. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff because in some cases with environmental law there is no statute of limitations.

In the state of New Jersey the only way an environmental lawsuit will have a statute of limitations is if the act was committed by war, sabotage, or God. These defenses for environmental lawsuits are substantiated by the Spill Act.

Even though there is no statute of limitations for environmental law cases in New Jersey it is still a good idea to file a claim before too much time has passed. This is simply because after a long period of time, important documents, witnesses, and other evidence that could make your case may become lost or unavailable for use. In these cases the courts may not rule in favor of the plaintiff because there would not be enough evidence.

In some environmental law cases there is a statute of limitations that should be followed by the courts. For example, if a company if sued and forced to clean up the pollution on the property, they must then get approval of their clean up efforts. The plaintiff would then have a statute of limitations of only three years to file suit again against the same company, if they did not properly clean up the site.