This news article is from 2009, but still timely as the effects of this victory unfold: a NY Times story on the successful lawsuit by the Crag Law Center to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to follow their own rules when it comes to responding to civil rights violations.

Crag Law Center filed the suit as the attorney for the Rosemere Neighborhood Association in 2003, because the EPA's Office of Civil Rights was refusing to look into problems with the way that the City of Vancouver was dealing with sewer and stormwater problems for the Rosemere community. The Office of Civil Rights within the EPA is supposed to investigate problems like this, but delayed for years.

The judge in the case wrote that "What the district court initially classified as an 'isolated instance of untimeliness' has since bloomed into a consistent pattern of delay by the EPA. [Rosemere Neighborhood Association] has twice encountered that pattern whereby it files a complaint, hears nothing for months, and then only after filing a lawsuit does the EPA respond."

Chris Winter, Crag attorney (and MRG Board member) was quoted in the story following the ruling in their favor:

"Rosemere was pleased with the result. In this case, EPA had inflicted years of hardship on a small community group. We've heard the same dozens if not hundreds of times in recent memory," Winter said. "This is a strong statement that the Office of Civil Rights is in desperate need of reform, and we hope to see that kind of reform soon."

To learn more about Crag and their victory for the Rosemere community, check out their website: www.crag.org.