February, 09 2010, 09:46am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337
Obama Administration Hired Nation's Top Anti-Union Law Firm
Lawsuit to Find Out How Much Union-Busting Firm Is Paid and From What Funds
WASHINGTON
A federal agency has hired the nation's top union-busting law firm
but refuses to say for how much money or whether stimulus funds were
used to pay the retainer, according to a summary judgment motion filed
today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) in
its lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. Normally a labor
union ally, the Obama administration is paying a firm specializing in
what is euphemistically called "union avoidance" or "preventive labor
relations."
This strange bedfellows arrangement arises
out of an obscure federal agency called the International Boundary and
Water Commission (IBWC) which retained the high-priced law firm Jackson
Lewis LLP this summer to defend it against charges that the IBWC fired
its own general counsel in retaliation for reporting agency waste,
fraud and abuse. PEER represents the now ex-general counsel, Robert
McCarthy, in his whistleblower complaint before the U.S. Merit System
Protection Board (MSPB).
In November, 2009 PEER submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request for the retainer agreement IBWC signed with Jackson Lewis and
the source of funds for payment. Initially, IBWC refused the PEER
request on the grounds that it would reveal "trade secrets" about
Jackson Lewis which counts Halliburton among its corporate clients. A
month and a half later in response to a PEER administrative appeal,
IBWC added a new reason, claiming it is covered by "attorney-client
privilege."
In early January PEER filed a federal suit to force release of the
information. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department failed to answer
the complaint within the required 30-day deadline. PEER is asking for
an immediate court ruling in its favor.
"There are no legitimate grounds for withholding this very basic data
about how taxpayer funds are being spent," stated PEER Executive
Director Jeff Ruch. "Federal regulations require every agency to
publicly report how much each is spending on outside private counsel
and for precisely what reason."
McCarthy was removed on July 31, 2009, three days after reporting
mismanagement that threatens the safety of millions of border
residents, the intended beneficiaries of a bungled $220 million
Recovery Act flood control program. Bill Ruth, appointed by President
Bush as IBWC Commissioner in late 2008, fired McCarthy and hired
Jackson Lewis to defend the agency. Ruth was finally replaced by an
Obama appointee, Edward Drusina, on January 19, 2010.
In the McCarthy case, Jackson Lewis has filed a furious welter of
motions and counter-motions - all on the taxpayers' dime. PEER
anticipates receiving documents concerning the firm's arrangement with
the agency soon but not likely before McCarthy's MSPB hearing on
February 11 in El Paso, Texas.
"The IBWC has a history of boondoggles and this appears to be yet
another sorry chapter," Ruch added. "The new Commissioner could put an
immediate stop to this farce, but for now the clock - and the billable
hours - will keep running."
###
Learn about Jackson Lewis
See shifting bases for IBWC denial for releasing retainer agreement
Read the justification for the PEER summary judgment motion
View the evolution of the IBWC whistleblower case
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER's environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.
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Trump Signs Executive Order to Advance 'Deeply Dangerous' Deep-Sea Mining
"The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn't restricted to the ocean floor: It will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it," one campaigner warned.
Apr 24, 2025
Amid global calls for a ban on deep-sea mining to protect marine ecosystems, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to advance the risky practice and "restore American dominance in offshore critical minerals and resources."
"The broad order avoids a direct confrontation with the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority and seeks essentially to jump-start the mining of U.S. waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry," notedReuters, which had previewed the measure aimed at attaining nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, titanium, and rare earth elements.
"The International Seabed Authority—created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the U.S. has not ratified—has for years been considering standards for deep-sea mining in international waters, although it has yet to formalize them due to unresolved differences over acceptable levels of dust, noise, and other factors from the practice," the agency reported.
Trump's order directs Cabinet members including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick—whose department oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—to expedite the permit process and work on various related reports.
"Authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
Deep-sea mining is opposed by over 30 countries as well as academics and advocacy groups worldwide. Among them is Greenpeace USA, whose campaigner Arlo Hemphill said Thursday that "authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
"We condemn this administration's attempt to launch this destructive industry on the high seas in the Pacific by bypassing the United Nations process," Hemphill declared. "This is an insult to multilateralism and a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry."
"But this executive order is not the start of deep-sea mining. Everywhere governments have tried to start deep-sea mining, they have failed. This will be no different," he added. "We call on the international community to stand against this unacceptable undermining of international cooperation by agreeing to a global moratorium on deep-sea mining. The United States government has no right to unilaterally allow an industry to destroy the common heritage of humankind, and rip up the deep sea for the profit of a few corporations."
No exaggeration, deep sea mining could cause the massive collapse of the entire deep sea ecosystem and food chain. This is an existential risk to every person on this planet. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/c...
[image or embed]
— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) April 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
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"Areas of the U.S. seafloor where test mining took place over 50 years ago still haven't fully recovered," Watters pointed out. "The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn't restricted to the ocean floor: It will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it. Evidence tells us that areas targeted for deep-sea mining often overlap with important fisheries, raising serious concerns about the impacts on the country's $321 billion fishing industry."
He highlighted that "NOAA is already being threatened by this administration's unprecedented cuts. NOAA is the eyes and ears for our water and air. NOAA provides Americans with accessible and accurate weather forecasts; it tracks hurricanes and tsunamis; it responds to oil spills; it keeps seafood on the table; and so much more. Forcing the agency to carry out deep-sea mining permitting while these essential services are slashed will only harm our ocean and our country."
"It's not just our country this executive order would harm: This action has far-reaching implications beyond the U.S.," Watters added, warning that by unilaterally allowing deep-sea mining, "the administration is opening a door for other countries to do the same—and all of us, and the ocean we all depend on, will be worse off for it."
As The New York Timesreported:
The executive order could pave the way for the Metals Company, a prominent seabed mining company, to receive an expedited permit from NOAA to actively mine for the first time. The publicly traded company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, disclosed in March that it would ask the Trump administration through a U.S. subsidiary for approval to mine in international waters. The company has already spent more than $500 million doing exploratory work.
"We have a boat that's production-ready," said Gerard Barron, the company's chief executive, in an interview on Thursday. "We have a means of processing the materials in an allied friendly partner nation. We're just missing the permit to allow us to begin."
In response to the late March disclosure—which came during International Seabed Authority negotiations—Louisa Casson, senior campaigner for Greenpeace International, said that "this is another of the Metals Company's pathetic ploys and an insult to multilateralism. It shows that a moratorium on deep-sea mining is more urgently needed than ever. It also proves that the company's CEO Gerard Barron's plans never focused on solutions for the climate catastrophe."
"The Metals Company is desperate and now is encouraging a breach of customary international law by announcing their intent to mine the international seabed through the United States' Deep-Sea Hard Mineral Resources Act," the camapigner asserted. "This comes after the Metals Company has spent years exerting immense pressure on the International Seabed Authority to try and force governments to allow mining in the international seabed—the common heritage of humankind."
Casson stressed that "states, civil society, scientists, companies, and Indigenous communities continue to resist these efforts. Having tried and failed to pressure the international community to meet their demands, this reckless announcement is a slap in the face to international cooperation."
Less than a week later, the Norwegian deep-sea mining company Loke Marine Minerals declared bankruptcy—which Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, a campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, noted came "on the same day that we shut down a deep-sea mining conference in Bergen."
The Norwegian government in December halted plans to move forward with deep-sea mining in the Arctic Ocean, which Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, had called "a testament to the power of principled, courageous political action, and... a moment to celebrate for environmental advocates, ocean ecosystems, and future generations alike."
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