Posted on June 22, 2011 by Susan Cooke
A recent Seventh Circuit decision authored by Judge Richard Posner provides a useful review of the doctrine of standing in the context of an alleged environmental injury. In American Bottom Conservancy v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (No. 09-cv-603-GPM) issued on June 14, the Seventh Circuit concluded that the plaintiff conservation organization had standing to appeal the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance of a Section 404 permit. Members of the Conservancy had offered sufficient evidence to support their allegation that destruction of the wetlands near a state park would diminish the wildlife population (including birds and butterflies) visible to them, and thus their enjoyment of the wildlife.
The Army Corps permit authorized Waste Management of Illinois, Inc. (WMI) to remove soil from wetlands which it owned near the park and to use that soil as cover for its neighboring landfill. Once it completed the excavation of those wetlands and adjacent acreage, WMI intended to convert the area into a new landfill. WMI agreed to configure compensating wetlands of even greater size in the immediate vicinity and next to the state park.
After casting a critical eye at several grounds articulated in the past to support the doctrine of standing, Judge Posner identified the “solidest grounds” as being “practical” ones. Those included “preventing the federal courts from being overwhelmed by cases” and ensuring that “the legal remedies of primary victims of wrongful conduct will not be usurped by persons trivially or not at all harmed by the wrong complained of.”
Based on his finding that the wetlands to be destroyed were close enough to the park to impact birds and butterflies that could fly into or over the park or be seen from it, Judge Posner concluded that there was sufficient proximity to demonstrate the probability of harm to the park’s wildlife. He then rejected the district court’s conclusion that members of the conservation organization must show that they would no longer visit the state park. Instead, he declared that it was only necessary to show that their “pleasure is diminished”.
Judge Posner also disagreed with the district court’s finding that the injury was “merely speculative” because about 30% of the wetlands would be preserved and compensating wetlands of twice the size would be built. Judge Posner found it more significant that more than two-thirds of the existing wetlands would be eliminated, that the compensating wetlands would not be built until after all soil removal had occurred, and that the time for the new wetlands to reach maturity would exceed the short lifespan of at least some species (such as the six week lifespan of a butterfly), Judge Posner found the probability of injury, even if small, to be real.
In sum, Judge Posner concluded that the plaintiff had met its burden of alleging a probable harm to its members (the “injury in fact” which consisted of being deprived of the pleasure of watching wildlife) and of seeking relief that would address such injury (retraction of the Army Corps permit). He noted that for standing purposes plaintiff need not show the magnitude of the injury, as distinct from its directness. Consequently, the Seventh Circuit reinstated the Conservancy’s lawsuit. The Seventh Circuit also denied WMI’s request that the district court’s dismissal be upheld on the merits because WMI had not filed a cross appeal seeking to dismiss the case with prejudice.
Judge Posner’s analysis of the case law and commentary on the standing issue reveals his concern about conflating the “zone of interests” for standing and the merits of a case. As he noted in Harzewski v. Guidant Corp., 489 F.3d 799 (7th Cir. 2007), involving an ERISA class action, interpreting standing requirements too broadly would merge the standard of proof for standing with the standard of proof on the merits. His latest effort to address the issue should provide helpful guidance in an area where the prerequisites for establishing standing have been a matter of serious debate.
Tags: Environmental Justice