Court Battles

Friends of the Earth et al. v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

August 6, 2024 Court CaseFlorida, MiamiClosed

NRDC and our partners are advocating for the NRC to analyze the potentially grave environmental impacts of extending the operating licenses of two Florida nuclear reactors.

Healthy Gulf v. FERC (Commonwealth LNG)

July 24, 2024 Court CaseLouisianaClosed

A massive new liquefied natural gas export facility has been approved in an already overburdened environmental justice community. So we’re suing.

NRDC et al. v. City of Los Angeles et al. (China Shipping)

June 4, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, California, Los AngelesActive

In partnership with community-based organizations, NRDC is pushing the highly polluting Port of Los Angeles and its terminal operators to clean up their act.

Concerned Pastors for Social Action v. Khouri

May 31, 2024 Court CaseMichigan, FlintActive

In a citizen-led case, NRDC and partners filed a lawsuit against the city of Flint and Michigan state officials for unlawfully exposing the people of Flint to lead-contaminated drinking water.

Neighbors for Environmental Justice, et al. v. EPA, et al. (Methylene Chloride)

April 30, 2024 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

NRDC demanded EPA do its job under the Toxic Substances Control Act and consider the serious risks methylene chloride poses to workers and communities.

California Trucking Association v. South Coast Air Quality Management District et al.

April 9, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, California, Los AngelesActive

When industry sued to stop implementation of SCAQMD’s Warehouse Indirect Source Rule, NRDC intervened to defend this life-saving regulation.

NRDC v. California Department of Pesticide Regulation

February 6, 2024 Court CaseCaliforniaActive

NRDC is challenging California’s policy that allows pesticide-treated seeds to go unregulated.

NRDC v. U.S. EPA (Perchlorate)

January 19, 2024 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

Perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, threatens the drinking water of millions of people across the United States. NRDC went to court to force the EPA to act.

Potomac Riverkeeper v. U.S. Department of the Navy

January 10, 2024 Court CaseWashington, D.C., Maryland, VirginiaClosed

Thanks to a lawsuit brought by Potomac Riverkeeper Network and NRDC, the U.S. Navy must clean up its act on the Potomac River.

Migrant Clinicians Network et al. v. U.S. EPA et al. (Streptomycin)

January 4, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, FloridaClosed

After NRDC and our partners sued the EPA, the medically important streptomycin antibiotic may no longer be lawfully sold or distributed as a pesticide.

Keystone XL Pipeline Lawsuits

January 1, 2024 Court CaseNebraska, South Dakota, MontanaClosed

The massive pipeline threatened our climate and public health—and the government’s approvals violated environmental laws. So we went to court.

NRDC, Sierra Club, and Respiratory Health Association v. Illinois Power Resources Generating

December 1, 2023 Court CaseIllinois, PeoriaClosed

NRDC and partners fought to make sure the owners of the E.D. Edwards coal-fired power plant never again put local communities at risk from hazardous and illegal pollution.

Amicus Brief: Athletics v. California Department of Toxic Substances Control

November 3, 2023 Court CaseCaliforniaActive

California has failed to fully implement hazardous waste laws at metal shredding facilities like Schnitzer Steel—and communities are suffering for it.

NRDC v. E. Scott Pruitt et al. (Neonic Pesticides)

May 15, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

Research shows neonics are highly toxic to wildlife, including key pollinators—and the EPA’s failure to act on that evidence violates the Endangered Species Act. So we’re suing.

Baez v. New York City Housing Authority

February 7, 2023 Court CaseNew York, New York CityActive

The agency’s failure to remediate mold and moisture in city-owned housing exposes residents to avoidable, sometimes deadly health risks. NRDC and community partners are holding it accountable.

NRDC v. EPA (Tetrachlorvinphos)

January 25, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

NRDC is fighting to ban the use of a dangerous pesticide in household pet products.

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments et al. v. FDA et al. (Antibiotic Resistance)

January 24, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

NRDC and a coalition of public health advocacy groups are suing the FDA to halt unnecessary uses of antibiotics in animal agriculture—and protect people and the environment.

Maine People’s Alliance and NRDC v. HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. LLC, and Mallinckrodt US LLC

October 11, 2022 Court CaseMaineActive

In 2000, NRDC and the Maine People’s Alliance sued Mallinckrodt—a former owner of a plant that contaminated the Penobscot River with toxic mercury—to seek a cleanup.

NRDC et al. v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration et al.

August 4, 2022 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

Fuel economy standards are good for our economy and our planet. When the Trump administration unlawfully attempted to weaken enforcement of these standards, we challenged them—and won.

NRDC et al. v. County of Dickson et al.

March 31, 2022 Court CaseTennessee, DicksonClosed

In the 1960s, manufacturing companies in Tennessee dumped a toxic industrial solvent that causes cancer, as well as reproductive and neurological harm, into an unlined landfill. NRDC helped to hold the companies to account.