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Abstract

The Atlantic States Legal Foundation (ASLF), an environmental organization located in central New York State, was once the leading non-governmental organization enforcing violations of the Clean Water Act (Atlantic States Legal Foundation, n.d.). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Atlantic States pursued a national litigation campaign, working with local environmental groups to sue industries that were out of compliance with their water pollution permits. In Indiana, during one six-week period alone, ASLF filed over one hundred lawsuits (Samuel Sage, personal interview, February 24, 2005). Today, the Atlantic States Legal Foundation uses the courts infrequently; rather, the organization spends most of its time providing technical assistance to groups and individuals with specific environmental concerns. Moreover, the group targets environmental problems beyond the local or even the national level. One of ASLF’s more recent campaigns, for example, focuses on environmental issues in Eastern Europe, particularly pollution of the Black Sea watershed.