Environmental Law & Justice Clinic

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News

Read spring 2008 edition of GGU Environmental Law News

Helen Kang Discusses Environmental Law and Justice Clinic on NBC

View an interview with Clinic Acting Director Helen Kang on the NBC 11 TV program Bay Area Vista at http://www.nbc11.com/video/15939955/index.html.

Clinic Achieves Major Victory for Residents in Hinkley, California

Student clinicians and attorneys with the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic (ELJC) have just won a major victory on behalf of residents in rural Hinkley, California, the town depicted in the film Erin Brockovich. In a case before San Bernardino Superior Court, the ELJC and co-counsel Caroline Farrell (JD 76) and Ingrid Brostrom with the Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment argued that the county should have analyzed the option of an enclosed composting facility for fermenting waste, including human waste, before approving an open-air facility with potentially harmful impacts to air quality and wildlife. Student clinicians who argued the case in court, wrote the brief, and worked on evaluation of the case included Alicia Pradas-Monne, Shannon Chaney, Mike Flynn, Clarence Lee, Reta Diekman, Courtney Hildreth, and Laura Kent-Monning. Former student clinicians and alumnae who worked on the case include Kimberly Chew (JD 07) and Greta Smit (JD 07). Pradas-Monne and Caroline Farrell (JD 99) served as co-counsel for the clinic.The clinicians' and attorneys' success would have been impossible without the help of other team members, who included Visiting Staff Attorney Brent Plater, who led the team; ELJC Graduate Fellow Ashling McAnaney (JD 07), who worked on the reply brief with ELJC Staff Scientist Ken Kloc; professors Myron Moskovitz and Alan Ramo; and clinic assistant Fe Gonzalez. Read clients' press release.pdf

Clinic Scientist Appointed to Cal EPA Environmental Advisory Committee

ELJC's environmental scientist, Ken Kloc, was appointed to the California Environmental Protection Agency's Cumulative Impacts and Precautionary Approaches Work Group. The work group will assist Cal EPA in developing policies to address the health risks of multi-media exposures to chemical and other environmental hazards.

ELJC Receives $150K Grant from The California Wellness Foundation

The California Wellness Foundation renewed its support for the clinic's work with a three-year grant of $150,000. This "core support" grant allows the clinic to pursue its mission of providing pro bono legal assistance and environmental science consulting to community-based environmental organizations.

Clinic Plays Key Role in Pulp Mill Settlement to Reduce Soot Emissions

The Environmental Law and Justice Clinic is celebrating a settlement between two citizen's groups it has been representing and Evergreen Pulp Mill, Inc., to reduce air pollution from the company's mill near Eureka, California. "I can't tell you how rewarding it is for the students at our in-house law school clinic to see their work have such a real and positive impact on the Eureka community," says Associate Professor Helen Kang. "This experience showed me concretely how law can effectively be used for positive social change," says student Jim Treggiari (JD 08) of working on the case.

ELJC Achieves Air Pollution Reduction in West Berkeley

Pacific Steel Casting Company, the third-largest steel casting foundry in the United States, and Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) have entered into a consent decree to reduce air pollution from the company's foundry located in West Berkeley, California. The agreement represents a victory for Golden Gate University's Environmental Law and Justice Clinic; its client, Communities for a Better Environment; and residents of West Berkeley, California, where the foundry is located. Read ELJC final release.