Environmental Law Enforcement

Smith & Lowney is the leading private law firm in the country bringing environmental citizen suits.  Through these cases, we represent environmental groups and individuals to directly enforce state and federal environmental laws. We often can take these cases on a contingency basis because losing defendants must pay our fees and costs. In addition to requiring defendants to improve their facilities to protect water quality, our cases have required defendants to pay tens of millions of dollars towards environmental projects.  

 The following are representative cases:

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and Waste Action Project v. Boeing.  In this 2020 case, we represented two of our primary Clean Water Act clients in holding Boeing accountable for PCB-contaminated runoff into the Duwamish River in Seattle.  We obtained a federal consent decree that provided (1) substantial PCB remediation and continuing monitoring for recontamination, (2) benchmarks to trigger additional remediation, (3) installation of an engineered stormwater treatment systems to protect the Duwamish, and (4) $750,000 towards the removal of the Lones Levee to reconnect the Green River to its historic floodplain and restore critical salmon habitat. 

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. BNSF. This heavily litigated case involved the illegal and unpermitted discharge of polluted stormwater into Elliot Bay in Seattle. We established the unpermitted discharge by dye testing and eventually settled the case with a $1.5 million payment to Puget Sound environmental projects, which at the time was the largest penalty obtained for stormwater pollution.   

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. SSA. In this Clean Water Act citizens suit against one of the largest terminals on Harbor Island in Seattle, Soundkeeper obtained a settlement that included a sizable penalty and required SSA to install stormwater treatment on tens of acres of terminal property.  

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Louis Dreyfus Commodities.  This case involved illegal grain dumping from an export terminal on Elliot Bay.  After establishing Clean Water Act violations on summary judgment, the parties reached a settlement including (1) $699,000 for environmental projects in the Puget Sound, (2) treatment of all pier runoff, (3) cessation of the illegal discharges and (4) installation of new safety mechanisms.  

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Whitley Manufacturing.  This case established for the first time in Washington that “stormwater associated with industrial activity” cannot be discharged without a permit, regardless of its physical or chemical makeup. The settlement required the defendant to obtain a Clean Water Act permit, pay $465,000, and implement practices to mitigate environmental harm.  

RE Sources for Sustainable Communities v. Pacific International Terminals. This case involved the illegal clearing of forested wetland at the site of the proposed Gateway Pacific coal export terminal in Whatcom County.  The litigation uncovered damaging evidence of PIT’s destruction of sacred sites on the Lummi reservation, which helped solidify opposition to this dirty-coal project.  The settlement required the defendant (1) to pay $1.6 million, including $825,000 for local environmental benefit projects, (2) enhance and set aside almost 3 acres of undisturbed wetland on the property from future development, and (3) restore the damaged wetlands.   

Waste Action Project v. Fruhling Sand & Topsoil.  This case involved violations of Washington’s Sand and Gravel General Permit and unpermitted discharges of arsenic-contaminated groundwater to Crystal Creek. After an unfavorable ruling on summary judgment, we appealed to the Ninth Circuit and won.  The eventual settlement required the defendant to clean up arsenic-contaminated sediments in a residential neighborhood, treat their contaminated discharges, upgrade their stormwater best management practices and pay up to $400,000 for environmental benefit projects in the watershed.  

Waste Action Project v. Brown Line Trucking.  The settlement required Brown Line to increase sampling, improve its best management practices and stormwater treatment, and pay $554,000 towards projects to improve the water quality of the Lower Skagit River Watershed.  

Puget Soundkeeper Aliance, et al. v. US Navy.  We brought this case on behalf of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and Washington Environmental Council in collaboration with the Suquamish Tribe in response to the Navy’s scraping marine growth and toxic paint into Sinclair Inlet without protective measures or a permit. The State of Washington later joined this case and the parties achieved a settlement requiring the Navy to take remedial actions and not scrape other decommissioned ships directly into the water. Read more information here.

Waste Action Project v. City of Shelton was brought under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) citizen suit provision on residents to force the City of Shelton to clean up its old town dump.  The C-Street Landfill contained dioxin and toxic sludge residential dumping as well as timber and military industries in the area. The settlement required the City to work with the state Department of Ecology to begin cleanup of the toxic site.  

Bill Green v. E.P.A. Repeat successful actions against EPA for failing to timely respond to Clean Air Act petitions filed by a Hanford environmental watchdog.  

Gill v. LDI.  Clean Water Act citizen suit against illegal mining operation for violations of NPDES permit and nuisance claims. We won the case after obtaining summary judgment on the merits, halting the mining operation. 

Citizens Against Seatac Expansion. v. Department of Ecology. We represented CASE in successfully appealing the Clean Water Act permit for Sea-Tac airport, seeking to protect Puget Sound and area creeks from untreated aircraft and runway deicing products. Following an eight-day trial before the PCHB in July 2004, the board directed ecology to rewrite the permit to better protect water quality.  

Waste Action Project v. Port of Olympia.  In Waste Action Project’s second Clean Water Act suit against the Port of Olympia for illicit bark discharges, we obtained a favorable summary judgment ruling and settled the case shortly before trial. The 2019 settlement required the Port to improve its stormwater management and pay $625,000 towards environmental projects. 

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Snohomish County.  Soundkeeper sued for violations of the Municipal Stormwater permit. The settlement required the County to re-write its Stormwater Management Program Plan, amend its County ordinances to incorporate and require low impact development principles, and invest in low impact development retrofit projects. 

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Total Terminals.  In this suit against a marine terminal operator and the Port of Seattle, we defeated the Port’s motion to dismiss, settling the case for stormwater treatment measures and $735,000 towards projects to improve the water quality of Elliott Bay. 

Waste Action Project v. Draper Valley Holdings. After winning summary judgment establishing standing to sue and numerous Clean Water Act pretreatment violations, the Perdue-owned slaughterhouse agreed to upgrade its wastewater treatment system and pay $400,000 for environmental benefit projects in the Skagit River watershed near its Mount Vernon plant. We continued monitoring Perdue’s compliance and following new violations in 2019 and 2020, we filed a second case to enforce the Clean Water Act.

Waste Action Project v. Astro Auto Wrecking.  After winning summary judgment establishing standing to sue and numerous Clean Water Act permit violations, we prevailed in a three-day bench trial to establish additional violations and impose penalties and injunctive relief.  

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Pierce County Recycling & Disposal, LLC dba LRI.  Soundkeeper sued the landfill for unpermitted discharges of leachate and other violations. The defendants agreed to install two high quality treatment systems and upgrades to prevent leachate discharges, and to pay $734,000 for environmental benefit projects in the Nisqually River watershed.  

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. City of Missoula.  PEER brought this case based upon information provided by whistleblowers, alleging violations of Missoula’s NPDES permit, including manipulation of monitoring data. The settlement reformed monitoring and reporting procedures and funded several water quality projects on the Clark Fork river.  

» For more information or to request a case evaluation, click here.