Court Battles

Migrant Clinicians Network et al. v. U.S. EPA et al. (Streptomycin)

January 4, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, FloridaActive

After NRDC and our partners sued the EPA, the medically important streptomycin antibiotic may no longer be lawfully sold or distributed as a pesticide.

Potomac Riverkeeper v. U.S. Department of the Navy

June 21, 2023 Court CaseWashington, D.C., Maryland, VirginiaActive

Potomac Riverkeeper Network and NRDC are suing the U.S. Navy for illegally discharging pollutants into the waters of the Potomac River.

NRDC v. E. Scott Pruitt et al. (Neonic Pesticides)

May 15, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

Research shows neonics are highly toxic to wildlife, including key pollinators—and the EPA’s failure to act on that evidence violates the Endangered Species Act. So we’re suing.

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments et al. v. FDA et al. (Antibiotic Resistance)

January 24, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

NRDC and a coalition of public health advocacy groups are suing the FDA to halt unnecessary uses of antibiotics in animal agriculture—and protect people and the environment.

Maine People’s Alliance and NRDC v. HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. LLC, and Mallinckrodt US LLC

October 11, 2022 Court CaseMaineActive

In 2000, NRDC and the Maine People’s Alliance sued Mallinckrodt—a former owner of a plant that contaminated the Penobscot River with toxic mercury—to seek a cleanup.

Dirty Water Rule

September 1, 2021 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The Trump-era rule narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act by revoking federal protections for countless streams, wetlands, and other waters.

NRDC v. David L. Bernhardt et al. (Rusty Patched Bumblebee Habitat)

September 1, 2020 Court CaseEast, MidwestClosed

More than two years since the rusty patched bumblebee was listed as an endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to designate and protect the bee’s critical habitat, as required by law.

NRDC v. E. Scott Pruitt et al. (Enlist Duo)

July 23, 2020 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The EPA approved the pesticide Enlist Duo despite its serious risks to people and monarch butterflies. So NRDC challenged the EPA’s decision—and won an important victory.

The California WaterFix project

May 13, 2019 Court CaseCaliforniaClosed

The California WaterFix project was no fix at all. In a victory for the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, California abandoned its two-tunnel project in May 2019.

Alfa International Seafood et al. v. Wilbur Ross et al.

January 1, 2018 Court CaseInternational, United StatesClosed

The National Marine Fisheries Service has a Seafood Traceability Rule that helps prevent illegal fishing and seafood fraud. When it came under attack, NRDC stepped in.