The Department of Defense oversees 25 million acres
of public lands and 15,897 contaminated sites. This gives the
agency the dubious honor of being the nation’s leading polluter,
says the Project for Participatory Democracy, an initiative of the
San Francisco-based Tides Center. Citing the government’s poor
record on clean-up, the group has produced a legal primer: A Guide
to Citizen Law Enforcement: Fighting Environmental Crime at
Facilities of the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense. It is the
sixth report on the U.S. uclear weapons complex published by the
project. The 38-page guide is written for a lay audience and covers
the basics, from investigating to arguing and defending a case.
Citizen lawsuits are permitted under the Clean Air Act, the Clean
Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, among other federal laws.
In June, the booklet was circulated to communities near military
bases and nuclear weapons plants. For a copy, send $2 to the
Project for Participatory Democracy, 12261’2 State St., Suite 5,
Santa Barbara, CA 93101; make checks payable to Tides/PPD. Bulk
discounts are available; call
805/962-1707.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Low cost legal aid.
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