public health Archives - Page 2 of 3

September 15, 2021 In Press Release

Climate, Environmental Justice Groups Call US-EU Methane Reduction Commitment a Long Overdue First Step

Today, environmental justice, rural community and environmental groups across the United States recognized the U.S. and European Union’s joint pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030 as a positive if insufficient step, while urging the Biden Administration not to...

July 1, 2021 In Press Release

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch File Petition for Rehearing with Iowa Supreme Court

Two weeks ago, the Iowa Supreme Court issued a split 4-3 ruling against the plaintiffs in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch v. State of Iowa. Today, the plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing asking the Court to reconsider its decision....

June 18, 2021 In News, Press Release

Iowa Supreme Court Rules Against Iowa Citizens in Right to Clean Water Lawsuit

Today, the Iowa Supreme Court split and ruled 4-3 against the plaintiffs in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch v. State of Iowa regarding a lawsuit against the State of Iowa for failing to protect the public use of the Raccoon...

April 1, 2021 In Cases

Sierra Club v. Walnutdale

FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice) represented the Sierra Club in an enforcement action alongside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) against Walnutdale Farms for violating a 2004 consent decree to clean up their act. The Great Lakes are known for their pristine waters, but...

December 9, 2020 In News

Law360: Pa. Meatpackers Urge Court Action Over Virus Safety Plans

A group of workers told a Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's failure to enforce COVID-19 protocols at a Scranton-area meat processing plant underscored the importance of court intervention to ensure worker safety at the facility....

December 8, 2020 In Cases

McKiver v. Murphy-Brown

In an historic victory, hundreds of mostly Black and brown community members in Eastern North Carolina won a series of mass action lawsuits against Smithfield for the public nuisance caused by factory hog farms. Smithfield’s factory farms, located largely in communities of color, produce copious...

December 3, 2020 In News

Law360: 3 Takeaways From Smithfield’s Hog Farm Stench Settlement

When Smithfield Foods Inc. settled nuisance suits brought by hundreds of neighbors over the stench from hog waste lagoons, it placed a major legal threat in the rearview mirror hours after a federal appeals court gave activists fodder to push for change....

December 3, 2020 In News

Law360: OSHA Won’t Fine Meatpacker Accused Of COVID-19 Violations

The U.S. Department of Labor's workplace safety arm will not cite a meat processing company investigated for alleged COVID-19 violations, despite a lawsuit by workers urging a Pennsylvania federal court to force the agency to make the company better protect against the disease....

November 30, 2020 In Cases

Maid-Rite (Justice at Work v. Sec. of Labor)

FarmSTAND (formerly the Food Project at Public Justice), Public Justice, Towards Justice, Nichols Kaster, and Justice at Work filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Pennsylvania using a never-before-tested mechanism in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, seeking to compel OSHA to enforce workplace...

April 24, 2020 In News

Bloomberg Law: Smithfield Workers Sue Over Covid-19 Exposure in Meat Plant

Smithfield Foods Inc. is being sued for allegedly failing to protect workers from coronavirus at its meat-processing plant in Milan, Mo., after at least eight workers have had to stay home after showing Covid-19 symptoms....

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