Description: Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking full disclosure of Tennessee Valley Authority contracts for methane infrastructure projects.
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Southern Environmental Law Center v. Tennessee Valley Authority
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 03/24/2022 Complaint Download Complaint filed. FOIA Lawsuit Sought Full Disclosure of TVA Contracts with Gas Companies. Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) seeking to compel full disclosure of information about TVA’s contracts with gas companies regarding planned methane infrastructure projects. SELC contended that TVA improperly redacted large portions of the two contracts it provided, claiming that FOIA’s Exemptions 4 and 5 applied. Exemption 4 permits withholding of “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.” Exemption 5 authorizes withholding of “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters that would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency.” SELC alleged that the redacted contractual provisions contained information needed for SELC “to continue to fully participate in public decision-making processes about TVA’s power generation decisions, and to determine whether TVA has complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its plan to build new gas plants.”