Duluth, MN – Laura Gauger, originally a farm girl from Wisconsin, has been saddled with a big bill from a multinational mining corporation. Gauger, now of Duluth, Minnesota, is a citizen plaintiff in a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Rio Tinto of London. The case centered on illegal discharges of pollutants into a stream at Rio Tinto’s Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Gauger and her co‐plaintiffs won the case in U.S. District Court and exposed the pollution from the metallic sulfide mine. The Court of Appeals, however, reversed the decision late in 2013 and denied a petition for rehearing. Now the court has ordered the plaintiffs, including Gauger as an individual, to pay Rio Tinto’s court costs, totaling over $60,000.
Savannah, GA – About 100 people marched from Johnson Square after a large rally against the Monsanto Corporation, a bio-technical and chemical giant. Monsanto plays a major role in industrialized agriculture. Marchers voiced concern or opposition to Monsanto’s genetically modified crops, unfair labor practices and poor treatment of workers. Today, genetically engineered crops account for 93% of all U.S. soybeans and about 90% of corn.
San José, CA – March 11 marks the third anniversary of the tsunami that overwhelmed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. The power plant’s owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company or TEPCO, says that it will take at least six more years to begin to remove the melted and radioactive uranium fuel, and even worse, that they don’t know how they are going to do it. The cleanup could go another 10 or 20 years and cost $50 billion or more.
Salt Lake City, UT – As many as 5000 Utahans rallied at the State Capitol, demanding cleaner air with no more excuses. Every winter, pollution from oil refineries, Hill Air Force Base incinerators and Kennecott mines gets trapped low near the valley floors, creating toxic air and breathing troubles for the people. With what is known as ‘the inversion,’ Utah competes for the worst air in the country at this time of year.
Minneapolis, MN – After a spirited protest downtown, Indigenous rights leaders, including Nina Wilson, a founder of Idle No More, gathered here at the American Indian Center on Franklin Avenue, March 21, for a wrap-up of the day’s activities and to prepare for the next event. On March 22, Wilson and others will be present at the Environmental & Treaty Rights Symposium, also to be held at the American Indian Center.
Protesters demand President Obama stop the Keystone XL pipeline
Washington, DC – According to protest organizers, more than 50,000 people joined the massive “Forward on Climate” rally here Feb. 17. Organized by 350.org, the Sierra Club, Hip Hop Caucus and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the rally was the largest protest in U.S. history addressing the issue of climate change. Many participants were students.
A nuclear catastrophe is unfolding in Japan. The information as of 2:00 p.m., March 16, is that two nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan have cracks in the shell designed to contain the radiation inside. There have been partial meltdowns of nuclear fuel in three reactors. The fuel in an unprotected storage pool has caught fire twice and the crisis is nowhere near over.
As of 4:00 pm, March 15, a major nuclear disaster is underway in Japan. In the wake of Friday’s devastating earthquake, a fire in a cooling pond for spent fuel rods and three major explosions have hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, located on the country's east coast. There are widespread reports of elevated radiation levels and many residents have fled the area.
Madison, WI – The Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, the Center for Biological Diversity and Laura Gauger filed a Clean Water Act citizen suit Jan. 18 against Flambeau Mining Company over its partially reclaimed Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith, Wisconsin. According to the suit, the mining company is violating federal law by discharging pollutants, including potentially toxic metals like copper, iron and zinc, into the Flambeau River and a tributary known as Stream C that flows across the company’s property.
Asheville, NC – Leaders of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and community environmentalists gathered in Pack Square, downtown Asheville, on July 17 to demand that BP pay for the disastrous oil spill that continues to devastate the Gulf Coast.
