Environmental group files lawsuit to protect lake

Oct 30, 2008

MONTPELIER, Vt. (Map, News) - An environmental organization is suing the federal government to try to tighten pollution controls in Lake Champlain .

The Conservation Law Foundation wants tougher restrictions on the amount of phosphorus that can flow into the lake.

After unsuccessfully asking the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten the rules and fighting the issue in the state Legislature, the group this week filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the plan known as the Champlain Total Maximum Daily Load.

"The TMDL, the pollution budget for phosphorous for Lake Champlain that was done by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and approved by the EPA was flawed right from the get go and it was never going to result in water quality standards being met," said Chris Kilian, CLF's Vermont director. "We have pursued every possible avenue we could find to have the TMDL reopened."

An EPA spokesman declined comment, citing ongoing litigation over the issue.

The plan affects development, farming and any land use that drains into Lake Champlain.

The lawsuit does not name any Vermont government agency but it implicates the state government, which wrote the TDML plan.

Federal authorities approved it as an alternative to normal compliance with federal Clean Water Act standards.

"CLF has really fought this battle for a long time. It got a full airing in the Legislature last year," said Natural resources Agency spokeswoman Sabina Haskell. "The Legislature agreed the TMDL should not be reopened."

http://www.examiner.com/a-1664842~Environmental_group_files_lawsuit_to_protect_lake.html