Media Center

Koch Brothers in Court Over Chicago's Petcoke Piles?

April 28, 2014 Press Release

CHICAGO (April 28, 2014) – Environmental groups today signaled their intention to sue the owners of two sites that together hold massive mounds of oil refining waste and coal on Chicago’s Southeast Side. The Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF) and…

Spring-run Salmon Release Marks Progress in Restoring San Joaquin River

April 17, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (April 17, 2014) – Today, for the first time in over 60 years, spring run Chinook salmon returned to the San Joaquin River when the San Joaquin River Restoration Program released 54,000 juvenile into California’s second largest…

Court Unanimously Agrees Feds Unlawfully Renewed Unsustainable Water Supply Contracts in the Bay-Delta

April 16, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (April 16, 2014) – A unanimous eleven-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today overturned two earlier court rulings that upheld the federal government’s renewal of several dozen long-term water supply contracts for diversions from…

California Fails to Protect Drinking Water from Toxic “Erin Brockovich” Chemical

April 15, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (April 15, 2014) – The California Department of Public Health today announced its final drinking water standard for the toxic chemical hexavalent chromium made infamous in the film Erin Brockovich. The state’s new Maximum Contaminant Level of 10…

Water Agencies’ Drought Plan Needs Balance

April 9, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SACRAMENTO (April 9, 2014) – The California Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation today released their proposed 2014 Drought Operations Plan, a proposal that waives key environmental standards to the detriment of the majority of Californians.

Rio Tinto Divests from Pebble Mine

April 7, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (April 7, 2014) -- In the latest departure from the proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska, British mining giant Rio Tinto announced today that it is divesting its interest in the embattled project by donating its shares to two…

Industry Urges Ships to Shush in order to Protect World’s Whales

April 3, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (April 3, 2014) — After five years of intensive coalition work, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) today released voluntary guidelines intended to reduce underwater noise from commercial ships globally. Ocean noise has been a growing problem for the…

NRDC Petition Helps Put a Stop to Toxic Chemical in Flea Collars

March 14, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (March 14, 2014) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and major pet product companies announced an agreement today to cancel the use of a toxic chemical called propoxur in flea collars due to the risk posed to the…

Court Upholds Key Protections for California Bay-Delta Health

March 13, 2014 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (March 13, 2014) – The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled to uphold a federal plan of protection for California’s vital Delta ecosystem. The court sided with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Earthjustice, The Bay…

House Chemicals Bill Would Undermine Health and Safety

February 28, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (February 28, 2014) – A House bill to overhaul federal oversight of the chemical industry would do more harm than good, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. The bill, introduced late yesterday by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), chair…

NRDC Petitions EPA to Save the Monarch Butterfly

February 24, 2014 Press Release

WASHINGTON (February 24, 2014)--Skyrocketing use of the weed-killer glyphosate, first marketed as “Roundup,” is devastating monarch butterfly populations, and new safeguards should be put in place immediately to save the iconic species from further decline, the Natural Resources Defense Council…

Academy Succumbs to Pentagon-White House-Industry Pressure, Recommends Perchlorate Safety Level that Fails to Protect Children

January 10, 2005 Press Release

WASHINGTON (January 10, 2005) -- The National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) report released today, which concluded that a higher exposure level to the toxic rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate than recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency is not harmful, could threaten…

White House, Pentagon, Industry Secretly Colluded to Skew National Academy of Sciences Perchlorate Report, Documents Show

January 10, 2005 Press Release

Chemical Attacks Thyroid, Poses Significant Threat to Infants

NRDC, Labor, Civil Rights Groups Sue Navy Over Vieques Operations

May 17, 2000 Press ReleaseNew York

NEW YORK (May 17, 2000) – Citing environmental hazards as well as high cancer and infant mortality rates on Vieques Island, a coalition of environmental, labor and civil rights groups -- including NRDC -- say they will sue the U.S…

NRDC Sues to Force White House to Release New EPA Standard for Arsenic Levels in Tap Water

May 10, 2000 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 10, 2000) - According to a suit filed today, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been illegally obstructing a proposed Environmental Protection Agency standard for arsenic in tap water for three months. In…

Environmentalists Win Lawsuit to Protect Summer Flounder

April 26, 2000 Press Release

WASHINGTON D.C. (April 26, 2000) - Siding with four conservation groups, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit yesterday struck down the 1999 federal fishery quota for summer flounder, a commercially and recreationally valuable fish that…