Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill Court Case

Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill Court Case

Environmental Activists Chuck Cook and Doris Gove are shown here with a "Save the Snail Darter" T-Shirt. This little endangered fish, found at the site of the Tellico dam in the midst of construction on the little Tennessee River, instigated the first court case to interpret the Endangered Species Act of 1973 which pitted industry and economic development against environmental conservation. Though the supreme court ruled that construction of the dam was in violation of the ESA, senator Howard Baker (R-Tennessee) got an amendment to the ESA passed which would allow certain exemptions for industrial projects, based on the decisions of an appointed committee; thus the (perceived) ongoing battle between industry and environment continued.

Jed DeKalb

Boston College Law School

1978-01-01