Environmental Community Action Network (ECAN) is a group of lawyers focused on training and assisting activists in Sampson County, North Carolina. In addition to assisting with letter writing and public comments on regulations, ECAN has filed lawsuits to stop development and permitting on environmental grounds. ^{1 2}

Founding and History

The Environmental Community Action Network was founded in 2020 by alumni of Vermont Law School. Aside from the chair of the board, Sherri White-Williamson, it is not clear what connection other board members have to the region of Sampson County, North Carolina, with other members living in Chicago and Canada. ^{3 4}

Financials

In 2022, the Environmental Community Action Network reported $309,322 in revenue, of which $309,322 was derived from grants and $3,135 was derived from program service revenue. It had $132,965 in expenses, of which $31,513 were spent on salary and compensation. It ended the year with a surplus of $176,357 and net-assets of $245,393. ⁵

Programs

The Environmental Community Action Network is involved in several different environmental disputes in Sampson County. These efforts mostly revolve around the effects of pig farms and a landfill in the county. In addition to mobilizing and training local activists to engage in letter-writing and community feedback processes, ECAN has filed lawsuits aimed at imposing new regulations or stymieing new development. ^{6 7 8}

Sampson County has numerous large hog farms, which make it the second largest hog producer in the U.S. after neighboring Duplin County. Waste generated from large pig populations creates billions of gallons of waste across the state. Such waste generates various gases, and the cesspools that house waste have, at times, broken or flooded due to weather events causing pollution. ⁹

ECAN has opposed the development of biogas infrastructure that would harvest gas given off by the waste cesspools to be burned to generate electricity, claiming that the practice will help to entrench the hog industry in the area. It also opposes the use of hog waste as fertilizer in agricultural fields. ECAN has filed lawsuits against permitting for biogas, and assists community members in organization, activism, and filing complaints and comments with regulatory bodies. ^{10 11}

ECAN is also involved in efforts concerning several large landfills in Duplin County that it claims have led to groundwater pollution, due to several of the landfills pre-dating regulations that mandated dumps be lined. These landfills accept waste from across North Carolina. ECAN and other activists have asserted that such policies are the result of racism. ¹²

Organization Philosophy

The Environmental Community Action Network embraces the left-of-center framework of intersectionality and states that it works to advance environmental, social, and economic justice. ¹³

Leadership

Sherri White-Williamson is the chair of the board of the Environmental Community Action Network. She previously worked at the Office of Environmental Justice at the Environmental Protection Agency. Upon retiring, she attended Vermont Law School and began engaging in environmental activism in her hometown region of North Carolina. ¹⁴

1. “Challenge Says N.C. Permit for Hog Waste Methane Gas Operations Entrenches Pollution and Harms to Communities.” Southern Environmental Law Center, July 29, 2022. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://www.southernenvironment.org/press-release/challenge-says-n-c-permit-for-hog-waste-methane-gas-operations-entrenches-pollution-and-harms-to-communities/.
2. “About EJCAN.” EJCAN. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://www.ejcan.org/about.
3. “About EJCAN.” EJCAN. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://www.ejcan.org/about.
4. Goodman, David. “A Fighting Chance.” Loquitur, Spring 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://issuu.com/vermontlawschool/docs/loquitur-spring-21-digital/s/12644069.
5. Environmental Community Action Network, Return of an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990) Part I, 2022.
6. Goodman, David. “A Fighting Chance.” Loquitur, Spring 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://issuu.com/vermontlawschool/docs/loquitur-spring-21-digital/s/12644069.
7. “Challenge Says N.C. Permit for Hog Waste Methane Gas Operations Entrenches Pollution and Harms to Communities.” Southern Environmental Law Center, July 29, 2022. https://www.southernenvironment.org/press-release/challenge-says-n-c-permit-for-hog-waste-methane-gas-operations-entrenches-pollution-and-harms-to-communities/.
8. Horan, Joey. “‘We All Feel Targeted’: Rural N.C. Community Pushes Back against Landfill, Hog Farms.” Southerly Mag, February 3, 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.  http://southerlymag.org/2021/02/03/we-all-feel-targeted-rural-n-c-community-pushes-back-against-landfill-hog-farms/.
9. Goodman, David. “A Fighting Chance.” Loquitur, Spring 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://issuu.com/vermontlawschool/docs/loquitur-spring-21-digital/s/12644069.
10. Goodman, David. “A Fighting Chance.” Loquitur, Spring 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://issuu.com/vermontlawschool/docs/loquitur-spring-21-digital/s/12644069.
11. “Challenge Says N.C. Permit for Hog Waste Methane Gas Operations Entrenches Pollution and Harms to Communities.” Southern Environmental Law Center, July 29, 2022. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://www.southernenvironment.org/press-release/challenge-says-n-c-permit-for-hog-waste-methane-gas-operations-entrenches-pollution-and-harms-to-communities/.
12. Horan, Joey. “‘We All Feel Targeted’: Rural N.C. Community Pushes Back against Landfill, Hog Farms.” Southerly Mag, February 3, 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.  http://southerlymag.org/2021/02/03/we-all-feel-targeted-rural-n-c-community-pushes-back-against-landfill-hog-farms/.
13. “About EJCAN.” EJCAN. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://www.ejcan.org/about.
14. Goodman, David. “A Fighting Chance.” Loquitur, Spring 2021. Accessed March 25, 2024.https://issuu.com/vermontlawschool/docs/loquitur-spring-21-digital/s/12644069.