The Clinic filed two amicus briefs on February 14, 2014 in related cases before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court involving a proposed power plant in Brockton, Massachusetts.
In the first case, City of Brockton v. Energy Facilities Siting Board (SJC No. 11406), the questions before the court included whether the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) failed to appropriately consider whether a proposal to construct a new power plant complied with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ Environmental Justice Policy. The Clinic, on behalf of an environmental advocacy organization, argued that, when a project has potential to impact environmental justice neighborhoods, the Environmental Justice Policy requires both enhanced opportunities for public participation and equal protection against environmental burdens, including an enhanced analysis of impacts on environmental justice communities. Clinical students Alexandria Shasteen (JD ’14) & Jean Tanis (JD ’15) worked with Clinic Director Wendy Jacobs and Clinical Instructor Aladdine Joroff on this brief.
In the second case, Brockton Power Company, LLC v. Energy Facilities Siting Board (Mass. No. 11405), the Clinic filed an amicus brief in support of a decision by the EFSB disapproving the use of the City of Brockton’s municipal water supply as the primary source of cooling water for a proposed electric-generating facility. The Clinic argued, on behalf of non-profit conservation and resource stewardship groups, that the impacts of such proposed large water uses must be evaluated with respect to both individual water bodies and the watersheds in which those waters are located. Clinical student Zachary Kearns (JD ’14) worked with Clinic Director Wendy Jacobs and Clinical Instructor Aladdine Joroff on this brief.
