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The plaintiff, nonprofit Conservation Law Foundation, or CLF, claims that ExxonMobil has ignored requirements to prevent its oil storage and transfer site in Everett from discharging pollutants into the Mystic in heavy weather.
The ExxonMobil oil terminal and storage facility in Everett is regulated by federal (EPA) and state (MassDEP) authorities, but federal environmental laws allow citizens and civilian groups, like CLF, to sue if they believe that authorities have failed to enforce the law.
The timing of Tuesday’s hearing, just days after Hurricane Irma pummeled Florida and the Atlantic South — and after a Houston-area chemical plant exploded during Hurricane Harvey — is essentially coincidental: the lawsuit was filed by CLF one year ago.
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