When we need a lawyer to get the job done.

DCS has worked with some excellent environmental attorneys over the years, the latest being Lauren Williams, to keep fracking out of the Delaware River Basin. Together, with your support, we have accomplished a lot.

DCS made its bones as a grassroots group formed by just folks–citizens confronted by the incoming threat of fracking in the Delaware River Valley—working with other folks to let people in the halls of power know “we are not going to put up with this.” We helped people make their will heard in meetings, at protests, regulatory hearings and by mail and phone calls to representatives. All this has had tremendous impact on the decisions made by regulators, lawmakers and other policymakers over the years.

But sometimes our voices are ignored; or heard, but not fully understood; or heard, but not well implemented. It is then that we sometimes have no recourse but to turn to the legal system. DCS’s recent victory keeping millions of gallons of toxic wastewater out of the river valley (see press release ) is just such a case, but it is far from the only one in which DCS has engaged.

And what do you need to make a legal action like this effective?  You need, of course, knowledge of the laws and resulting policies; and when those fail, knowledge of what legal tools are available to address them. Needed also is a lawyer who can incorporate the legal, science and policy components into a compelling, well-grounded, impeccably reasoned argument.

DCS is fortunate in having found three such individuals since its inception in 2008: Jeff Zimmerman, Jordan Yeager and Lauren Williams.

We are especially grateful for this because, make no mistake, it’s incredibly hard to find the people with the right combination of knowledge, skills, values and commitment. Most if not all of the big legal firms—and many small ones in fossil fuel-producing states like PA—are in essence owned by fossil fuel industry dollars. Industry psy-ops in major drilling states like PA influence the politics that determine what judges are appointed or elected. Legal help is expensive, and DCS simply doesn’t have the money to pay top dollar for a lot of time. And we have, sadly, found few foundations willing to pay for attorney’s fees.

Fortunately for us, the sheer commitment and ability of the attorneys with whom we have worked has outmatched all these obstacles.

Attorney Jeff Zimmerman, a long-time, deeply experienced environmental advocate, led us off with some big wins. Just a few:

• A 2010 administrative appeal challenging the DRBC’s failure to regulate or review the impacts of “test-wells” (really just the same as regular wells) resulted in the cessation of test well drilling in the same year.
• It was Zimmerman who drafted DCS’s challenge to the permit for one pad, the Woodland site, revealed big holes in the state’s permitting procedures, especially with regard to special protection waters; those procedures were modified statewide in 2011 as a result.
• It was the well-connected Zimmerman who led DCS’s education and networking efforts with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and other regulators, in the pre-moratorium period. That eventually resulted in a letter to the DRBC from then Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, one of its five commissioners, stating he would vote “no” if approval of regulations is proposed. That, in 2011, was the beginning of the de facto moratorium that lasted for a decade until a formal ban was finalized.

Attorney (now judge) Jordan Yeager also did stellar work for DCS drafting template zoning ordinances (2011) related to natural gas drilling. These provided municipalities with a free tool they could use to construct their own ordinances to protect themselves against the incursion of drilling, bypassing some of the legal expenses of themselves drafting ordinances rigorous enough to withstand legal challenges. And when you’re dealing with the fossil fuel industry, you’d better expect legal challenges.

Yeager was just the man to do this because he is also one of the state’s leading experts on the subject of municipal authority and drilling: he was one of the attorneys participating in a suit that resulted in the overturning of various provisions of the egregious Act 13—including some that would have eviscerated municipalities’ zoning rights with respect to drilling. With those provisions stricken, the DCS-funded ordinance templates became an extremely valuable tool for municipalities to take measures to restrict (though unfortunately, not to entirely exclude) drilling in their backyard.

Attorney Lauren Williams was a colleague of Yeager for almost 10 years; along with him, she was one of the attorneys who worked on overturning many parts of Act 13. During those years we were always impressed by her knowledge and willingness to go the extra steps working with us, especially with regard to much of our science-based material. She eventually started her own firm, Greenworks Law and Consulting—the name tells you all you need to know about how her values and commitments entwine with ours. And DCS is now working with Greenworks.

Lauren checks all the boxes for DCS—just take a look at the summary from her website quoted at the bottom of this post. “Science nerd”—check! DCS has always placed a huge emphasis on the scientific facts grounding our advocacy. “…[H]elping people protect, restore, and look after the places they most care about.”—check! Our love and that of our neighbors for the Delaware River Valley is where this all began, and that love—and the love of all the people with whom we network for the places they call home—is still the heart of the matter. “Community educator”—check! Empowering people to act starts with education, and that is where DCS has always started.

DCS’s latest legal challenge, which prevents massive amounts of toxic wastewater from being discharged into the Delaware River Basin, is DCS’s first major project with Lauren solo. It is an auspicious start to what we look forward to as a long and fruitful relationship.

But of course, in order for that to happen, funding is needed. Please consider donating to help us continue our legal effort. We’ll take some losses, but we’ll also score some essential wins that can only be obtained through the justice system.

About Lauren Williams, from her website:

Lauren M. Williams represents individuals, community and environmental groups, and municipalities in environmental and land use matters, including shale gas development issues, industrial agriculture, sewage sludge (“biosolids”) concerns, wastewater disposal, and zoning ordinance drafting and revision. She is a determined investigator and community educator passionate about environmental justice, science and public health, and helping people protect, restore, and look after the places they most care about.  She is also a science nerd comfortable with hydrogeology, basic GIS, stormwater management principles, and other technical matters and working with technical issues to advance advocacy and other client goals.