{news} Burton vs. DEP: power of lawsuits

[David Bedell]

The CT Law Tribune cites the recent court decision (about Nancy Burton's standing in the fight against Millstone nuclear plant's permit) as setting a far-reaching precedent in environmental law.

Between this and the ACLU lawsuit (about CT's campaign finance reform law), it's encouraging to see that we can actually win important victories in the courts.

David Bedell

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http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=34937

Monday, September 14, 2009

Decisions With A Long Shelf Life
Some state high court rulings will be oft-cited in Conn. and beyond

 
By THOMAS B. SCHEFFE...
Environmental Tome 
Nuclear-fueled environmental activist Nancy Burton, a former Redding
lawyer whose zeal helped get her disbarred, was at the center of two
decisions about the impact of the heated water discharged by the
state’s nuclear power plants. 
Burton claimed that the state Department of Environmental Protection
had done shoddy work in issuing permits to the two Millstone plants
without considering evidence that the water discharge might be harmful
to the Long Island Sound eco-system. The state had challenged Burton’s
standing to bring a complaint, but the court sided with her and said
her complaints should be considered.
Attorney Jeffrey Babbin, the second incoming co-chair of the CBA’s appellate advocacy section, said the exhaustive treatment in Nancy Burton v. Commissioner of Environmental Protection,
is “for anyone who practices environmental law, at least for now, the
new Bible to consult as to what claims” will amount to a substantive
environmental claim. “Justice Palmer, in a kind of academic way, tried
to reconcile the entire line of cases under the Connecticut
Environmental Protection Act in the Burton case.” 
Another environmental decision, Finley v. Inland Wetlands Commission,
authored by Justice William J. Sullivan, sheds further light on this
topic. “In some cases now,” said Babbin, “complaints about the [DEP]
can be seen as substantive complaints about the effect on the
environment. That was not seen to be the case before, so it’s
interesting to see it’s evolving,” he said.
Babbin, an appellate lawyer at Wiggin and Dana in New Haven, wasn’t
personally involved in either decision. “I follow this area. It’s
really important for businesses, zoning boards and local developers.”

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