Govind Tekale
A coalition of environmental justice organizations has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to issue regulations that would prevent hazardous chemical spills into waterways. The lawsuit, filed on August 28, 2025, in federal court in New York, aims to force the EPA to fulfill its legal obligation under the Clean Water Act.
The coalition—including the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, Clean Water Action, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)—argues that the EPA has ignored a Congressional mandate from 1972 requiring regulations to prevent and contain hazardous substance discharges.
“For generations environmental justice communities have lived next to some of the most hazardous facilities in the country that threaten the bodies of water our families rely on to survive,” said Michele Roberts, National Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance.
The lawsuit specifically targets the EPA’s 2019 “Final Action,” known by affected communities as the “Do Nothing Rule,” in which the agency declined to issue regulations despite a 2016 consent decree requiring action. At that time, the EPA claimed that chemical spills were not frequent or harmful enough to warrant new rules.
According to the coalition, more than 100,000 facilities across the United States store or use hazardous chemicals linked to reproductive, developmental, and neurological harm—including benzene, hydrogen sulfide, sulfuric acid, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrochloric acid. Hundreds of discharges from these facilities are reported annually, putting nearby communities at risk.
“We have lived through the tragedies that happen when you lack the safeguards around dangerous industrial facilities,” said Ana Parras, Co-Director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services.
Low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately affected by these risks, as hazardous facilities tend to be concentrated in these areas. The lawsuit argues that the EPA’s inaction has allowed this environmental injustice to continue.
“Prevention costs so much less than responding to a disastrous chemical spill that puts people’s lives and health, water quality, and community well-being at risk,” said Clean Water Action President and CEO Jeff Carter.
Similar Posts
The lawsuit asks the court to vacate the EPA’s 2019 decision and direct the agency to issue proper spill-prevention and containment regulations as required by law. The environmental groups argue that the existing patchwork of regulations doesn’t cover all hazardous substances, all facilities, or the full suite of prevention measures required by the Clean Water Act.
“More than a half century ago, Congress gave Americans a right to protections from toxic chemical spills, but the EPA never has followed through,” said Sarah Buckley, senior attorney at NRDC.
This legal action comes amid a series of environmental lawsuits against the EPA in 2025, with activists pushing for stronger enforcement of existing laws and implementation of long-delayed regulations.
The groups’ frustration stems from a history of regulatory inaction despite clear Congressional direction. The Clean Water Act provisions requiring these regulations have been in place since 1972, but decades later, communities remain vulnerable to toxic spills.
“This do-nothing action is an insult to communities that have been and continue to be harmed by toxic releases to the waterways we rely on,” said Dora Williams, Co-leader of Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice.
Dr. Maya Nye of People Concerned About Chemical Safety, a community organization based in West Virginia’s “Chemical Valley,” emphasized the fundamental nature of the issue: “This lawsuit against the EPA is about our basic right to clean water. EPA’s refusal to act over the past 50 years is completely unlawful and continues to hurt communities. Protections from toxic discharges into our waterways cannot be put on hold any longer.”
