I represent an environmental group and we filed suit against the FBI and Coast Guard for systematically polluting our drinking water by shooting millions of rounds of lead bullets into Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. All the evidence supported our claims and on the eve of victory the judge handed us defeat by stating we have no standing to sue for this lead in our drinking water. The 7th Circuit upheld our dismissal. The group would like to seek review by the Supreme Court but needs help paying for it. I worked on the case for no charge up to this point and am willing to work on the appeal at a significantly discounted rate of $75 per hour. If you want to help by buying one, two, or ten hours of my time, send your check in any multiple of $75 to:
Steven B. Pollack, Attorney
For: Blue Eco Legal Council Appeal
3390 Commercial Ave.
Northbrook, IL 60062
The Rest of the Story
The Blue Eco Legal Council is an environmental group formed to address the issue of Great Lakes pollution caused by federal facilities not adhering to the environmental laws. As hard as it is to believe, the Executive Branch of government often does not follow the same laws it enforces against industry. And because the Executive Branch is violating the laws, it naturally follows that it is failing to enforce the law against itself. The system of checks and balances therefore breaks down.
I have donated hundreds of hours of legal services for Blue Eco to litigate against federal polluters in court. In the most recent case, the FBI and Coast Guard continued to discharge lead bullets into the Great Lakes in violation of several laws until we made them stop with our lawsuit. We went to court and proved everything that we claimed; but before reaching the merits, Judge Guzman dismissed our suit declaring we lack standing to sue under the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act because we have not proved sufficient harm from the lead in our water supply.
I think the Court interfered with the right of Congress to empower citizen suits against the Executive for all violations by raising the standing standard above what is a violation of the statute. The Judiciary should not set the bar higher than Congress set it.
I believe the decision is legal error and likely to be overturned on appeal. The problem is that I cannot continue to expend my time on this without some compensation. The dismissal means that 580 hours spent on the litigation cannot ever be recovered under the attorney fee provision. While I willingly provided this time without any guarantee of recovery, I cannot afford to handle the appeal right now without pay. We need to decide by November 11, 2008 if we will appeal.
Illinois attorney rules allow for the payment of legal fees by people that are not party to the representation so long as they understand that the attorney still owes his professional responsibility duties to the represented party. If any members of the public wish to pay for the cost of appealing this decision that allows the FBI to re-open their range and discharge lead bullets into Lake Michigan, please send your non-tax deductible check to:
Steven B. Pollack, Attorney
For: Blue Eco Legal Council Appeal
3390 Commercial Ave.
Northbrook, IL 60062
Your check will be deposited in my client trust account and Blue Eco's account will be charged at a rate of $75 per hour, well below my rate of $325 per hour for paying clients. Pay for an hour for $75 or 10 hours for $750 (or any amount, you get the idea) No money will be withdrawn for time spent on the case in district court, only for time and costs spent on the appeal. At the end of the appeal, if we win, I will go back to representing Blue Eco without charge in the district court.
