Chronology of Success 2012
January 2012
- In a Clean Water Act enforcement case led by Staff Attorney Kristin Reuther, U.S. District Court in Idaho ruled in our favor holding that Atlanta Gold Corp. is liable for thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act from its discharges of arsenic and lead into the Middle Fork Boise River. US Ninth Circuit Judge Wallace Tashima, sitting by designation in the District of Arizona, granted summary judgment in our favor, holding that U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act in authorizing livestock grazing in the last remaining habitat of the Chiricahua leopard frog in Arizona’s Cocino National Forest.
February 2012
- In another legal victory by Senior Attorney Todd Tucci to protect greater sage-grouse, Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill held that BLM violated federal law in failing to address cumulative impacts of livestock grazing
March 2012
- News reports that ExxonMobil was disassembling large cranes at the Port of Lewiston confirm that the Big Oil company has abandoned its plans to ship over 200 mega-loads of oil sands refining equipment along the Lochsa/Clearwater wild and scenic river corridor.
June 2012
- Ruling from the bench in another bighorn sheep case brought by Senior Attorney Laurie Rule, U.S. District Judge Winmill granted our motion for an injunction ordering the Forest Service to close “high risk” sheep grazing allotments on the Payette National Forest to protect Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The Court held that an appropriations “rider” sponsored by Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson did not allow the Forest Service to backtrack on its plans to close the allotments.
July 2012
- In a strongly worded decision–emphasizing that “water is the West’s most precious resource” and keeping Idaho waters clean of toxic pollution is “a critical public interest that profoundly outweighs a company’s bottom line”–the U.S. Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams ordered Atlanta Gold Corp. to pay $2 million in penalties for its Clean Water Act violations and to install adequate treatment facilities to prevent further pollution of the Middle Fork Boise River.
August 2012
- In another case aimed at protecting water quality in the Boise watershed, federal judge Edward Lodge held in our favor that the Forest Service failed to study groundwater hydrology and potential impacts of the proposed CuMo Mine, ordering new studies and environmental review. This ruling delays exploration work at what is being called one of world’s largest potential open pit molybdenum mines.
October 2012
- After our Idaho Water Fellow Bryan Hurlbutt filed a state court lawsuit challenging the Idaho Land Board’s grant of a lease for suction dredge mining on the Salmon River of central Idaho, the applicant abandoned the lease, giving us a complete victory.
November 2012
- Wrapping up five years of litigation in San Francisco federal court over a huge case brought by Senior Staff attorney Laurie Rule with top-flight law firm Keker and Van Next, we won final judgment holding that the U.S. Forest Service violated federal law in not assessing environmental impacts of livestock grazing in sensitive species habitats on five National Forests in California.