Great Rivers Environmental Law Center
Lawyers for the Environment
Category: Water Quality Program
Just Keep Swimming?
An authorization of wastewater discharge would threaten a recreational river.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Environmental Law Center and Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper Send Notices of Intent to Sue Under the Clean Water Act to Two Missouri Sewage Plants for Visible Water Pollution
Water treatment facilities in rural Missouri and the state’s largest metro area both accused of violating bedrock federal environmental law.
Read MoreProtection Won for Missouri Youth
With the passage of the GET LEAD OUT OF DRINKING WATER ACT on July 1, 2022, Madeline’s work bore tremendous fruit. The bill requires any public school, private school, or provider of an early childhood education program that receives state funding to test for lead in their institution’s drinking water fixtures and to install filters to remediate those sources that are compromised.
Read MoreConcerned Groups Move to Block Coal Mine Pollution From Being Dumped Into Big Muddy River
Great Rivers is representing Sierra Club Illinois and Prairie Rivers Network in an appeal of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency decision to grant a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to Williamson Energy LLC, the owner of Pond Creek coal mine. In the newly granted permit, the IEPA declined to even consider placing a proper limit on chloride releases from the Pond Creek coal mine, despite the harmful impact excess chloride can have on wildlife in the river, and allows level of iron, sulfate and other pollutants that will harm the environment and potentially public health.
Read MoreSt. Louis on the Air Features President Bruce Morrison
St. Louis on the Air host Sarah Fenske sat down with Bruce Morrison, President of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center, and Steve Taylor, press secretary for the Global Justice Ecology Project, to discuss new federal funding designated to remediate Superfund sites in Missouri. The conversation focused on the factors the EPA considers for site selection, the impact of site remediation on Missouri residents, and the importance of environmental justice and citizen advocacy.
Read MoreCombatting the Threat of PFAS
Great Rivers, Sierra Club, and Prairie Rivers Network threaten a citizen suit against Sugar Camp Energy and American Consolidated Natural Resources.
Read MoreAn Update From Our Sustainable Lands Program
We are fighting to close illegal roads in Ozark National Scenic Riverways and opposing a proposed mine along the Eleven Point River.
Read MoreProtecting the Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Great Rivers has raised legal concerns about a National Park Service plan to manage illegally created roads and trails within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Doubles Down in Fight Against Maryland Heights Floodplain Development
The proposed construction site sits adjacent to Creve Coeur Lake Park, abutting wetlands considered by the National Audubon Society to be an “urban oasis” for many migrating waders, waterfowl, and shorebirds, and the bird watchers who come to see them.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Joins Petition Opposing Weakening of Endangered Species Act Guidelines
The proposed changes would allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to more easily exclude from protection vital habitat endangered species depend on.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Expands Capacity to Protect Region’s Most Vulnerable Children
New Staff Attorney Madeline Middlebrooks will fight dangerous lead contamination in local schools’ drinking water.
Read MoreSettlement Reached: A Big Victory for the Big River
The settlement puts an end to unlawful discharge of harmful waste and allocates funds to help clean up the river.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Files Comments Challenging Legality of Cuts to NEPA
The changes would threaten local natural resources and exacerbate climate instability.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Files Objections to Reckless Timber Harvest of Shawnee National Forest
As CO2 levels climb daily to new record levels, the last thing we need to do is to clear cut our forests.
Read MoreMissouri Wetlands: Our Unsung Resource
Wetlands in Missouri are one of our state’s highly beneficial and yet often unappreciated natural resources.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Environmental Law Center proudly welcomes third year law student Madeline Middlebrooks
Madeline will focus her work on local environmental justice and water contamination issues.
Read MoreSuccess! Subsidized Development of 2,409 acres Abutting Wetlands and Creve Coeur Park CANCELLED
When environmental concerns about the development seemed to fall on deaf ears, Great Rivers attorneys Bob Menees and Sarah Rubenstein raised important issues about the legality of the proposed plan.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Files Comments Opposing Maryland Heights’ Myopic Plan to Develop Floodplain at Taxpayers’ Expense
The City’s proposal for over $85,000,000 in tax incentives would jeopardize downstream citizens, vulnerable wildlife, and the funding of vital community services.
Read MoreGreat Rivers Works to Help Fight Fracking in Illinois; Court Orders Records to be Made Public
Fracking is harmful to air and water quality. Great Rivers’ intern helped fight fracking in Illinois.
Read MoreWater Quality Program Sees Victory! Great Rivers Confronts a Chronic Polluter of the Meramec River
The unlawful discharges had been made continuously for the past five years.
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