SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. (April 17, 2026) — Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic (EAC) has again urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to hold the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) accountable for the toxic impacts of flooding upstream from its Pensacola Dam facility in northeast Oklahoma.
In a filing on behalf of its client Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency, Inc. (LEAD Agency), an Oklahoma-based environmental justice organization with a long history of public education and advocacy in the region, the EAC asked FERC to take into account impacts within the full area affected by flooding exacerbated by the dam and the many ways local people may be exposed to contamination. The EAC has been representing LEAD Agency in the dam’s relicensing process since the fall of 2022.
“It’s essential that FERC fully consider stakeholder concerns, especially those of the communities and tribes that have been suffering for years from toxic flooding events,” said Christophe Courchesne, EAC director and associate professor. “Because GRDA bears responsibility for these harms, FERC should hold them accountable to help address the impacts through the dam’s relicensing process.”
The dam’s operation continues to exacerbate flooding events upstream along the Grand River. This area includes the highly contaminated Tar Creek, one of the first and still one of the most polluted Superfund sites in the country. The flooding redistributes contaminated, toxic sediments and threatens the health, safety and welfare of neighboring communities and tribes.
The EAC’s filing followed FERC’s determination, in September 2025, which requested that GRDA consult with its stakeholders and identify pathways for contaminant exposure. The EAC’s filing highlights the inadequacies of GRDA’s stakeholder consultation process and provided important studies that GRDA and FERC should consider during upcoming environmental analyses.
The submitted studies focus on the risks of human pathway contamination through various recreational and subsistence-related activities, in addition to the disproportionate impact on Indigenous families in the area.
This spread of contaminated sediment and subsequent consumption has widespread impacts on the health of the local communities. In addition to the risk of contamination from recreating in and around Tar Creek, many in the area forage for and subsist off the variety of plants, fish and game. The studies submitted to GRDA and FERC also explain the greater consumption exposure risk for those who fish and forage. Despite this, the activities continue, not just out of necessity, but as a vital part of Oklahoma and Tribal culture.
Martin Lively, Grand Riverkeeper at LEAD Agency, said, “Everything that drinks water or eats out of the riparian area upstream is affected—deer, ducks, fish, rabbits and everything in between. The people who hunt, fish and subsist on these resources and that live and recreate in the watershed river deserve better than GRDA’s refusal to take responsibility.”
The EAC’s filing joins those of the City of Miami, the Quapaw Nation and other local tribes that have expressed similar concerns about GRDA’s stakeholder consultation process, the ongoing impact of contamination from Tar Creek and the effects of flooding on the surrounding communities.
###
Spring 2026 Environmental Advocacy Clinic students Maddie DeMoranville and Alex Jones authored the clinic’s comments.
Vermont Law and Graduate School, a private, independent institution, is home to a law school that offers ABA-accredited residential and online hybrid JD programs and a graduate school that offers master’s degrees and certificates in multiple disciplines, including programs offered by the Maverick Lloyd School for the Environment, the Center for Justice Reform and other graduate-level programs emphasizing the intersection of environmental justice, social justice and public policy. Both the law and graduate schools strongly feature experiential clinical and field work learning. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency, Inc. (LEAD) is an environmental justice organization in northeastern Oklahoma that seeks to raise awareness about the effects of contamination on human health and the environment. Through public education, outreach, action, involvement with appropriate government agencies, and litigation, LEAD works to organize a citizen response toward cleanup and restoration of environmental harms, while striving for pollution prevention and environmental sustainability. For more information, visit leadagency.org and follow LEAD on Facebook.