Atlantic States Legal Foundation

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About Us

Atlantic States Legal Foundation (ASLF) was established in 1982 to provide affordable legal, technical and organi­zational assistance to individuals, community groups, and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), as a way to effectively remediate threats to the natural environ­ment. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, ASLF was the principal NGO utilizing the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act as a means of forcing polluters to cease the desecration of America’s waterways. During that time, and continuing today, we worked cooperatively with local environmental groups and attorneys throughout the United States to deter polluters, and would-be polluters, in a national litigation campaign.

In the early 1990s, ASLF also became known as the lead NGO in the national campaign forcing industries to disclose the extent and volume of toxic materials stored at individual facilities. As a result of a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision, continued work under this program has become somewhat curtailed. However, our previous efforts resulted in a vast number of industries becom­ing accountable to their residential neighbors in relation to potential risks to otherwise uninformed communities.

As ASLF grew, and as the nation’s environmental problems and solutions have become more complex, we have been focusing a greater portion of our time and energy providing technical assis­tance to groups and individuals with specific environmental concerns. We participate extensively in stakeholder negotiations, scientific and technical review and consulting, and community education programs. Our staff scientists work in conjunction with leading experts in the fields of wastewater and mechanical engineering, GIS mapping, chemistry, biology, geology, hydrology, toxicology, and risk assessment, in order to provide affordable, accessible technical expertise to communities in need.