NWEA Response to Indefinite Stay

NWEA Response to Indefinite Stay

It is strange to settle a case and then continue to litigate it. But such is the strange path of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) in this case. As stated in EPA’s motion for an indefinite stay (ECF 71), the parties have reached a settlement in principle and are only awaiting final approval by senior counsel at the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Once approved, we hope the settlement will be promptly finalized; but EPA’s insistence on filing and litigating the instant motion certainly casts a shadow over that process.

Regardless, the crux of EPA’s motion is baseless. Throughout its motion, EPA paints the remedy ordered by this Court as an unexpected shot out of left field, arguing that Northwest Environmental Advocates (“NWEA”) never asked the Court for an order directing EPA to make a necessity determination, and complaining that it never had a fair chance to present evidence opposing that remedy. All this is false. The motion should be denied.