Mayaguezanos v. US
Case Date: 12/21/1999
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 99-1412
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For the First Circuit ____________________ No. 99-1412 MAYAGUEZANOS POR LA SALUD Y EL AMBIENTE, ET AL., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ET AL., Defendants, Appellees. ____________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Salvador E. Casellas, U.S. District Judge] ____________________ Before Lynch, Circuit Judge, Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge, and O'Toole, District Judge. ____________________ Juan A. Giusti-Cordero, with whom Pedro J. Varela- Fernandez was on brief, for appellants. Sean H. Donahue, Attorney, Environmental and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, with whom Janet Masters, Trial Attorney, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Department of Energy; Horst Greczmiel, Office of Environmental Law, United States Coast Guard; James F. Simon, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Environmental and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Isabel Munoz Acosta, Assistant United States Attorney; Ellen Durkee, John T. Stahr, and Stephen G. Bartell, Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice, were on brief, for appellees. ____________________ December 20, 1999 ____________________ LYNCH, Circuit Judge. On February 3, 1998, the Pacific Swan, a British-flag freighter carrying a cargo of vitrified high- level nuclear waste, passed through the Mona Passage, a stretch of seas between the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. It was bound for Japan, by way of the Panama Canal, from France. A day earlier, a group of fishermen and environmental organizations from western Puerto Rico, fearing an accident or maritime disaster, brought this action for an injunction to stop the shipment until the United States filed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. After the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court denied the claim for injunctive relief and dismissed the action. See Mayag |