Sustaining Environmental Defenders

Since 1997, E-LAW U.S. has sent more than $1 million to grassroots environmental lawyers in less industrialized countries. Working with local advocates, E-LAW U.S. develops joint projects that help advocates tap the resources they need to protect the environment.

This financial support helps level the playing field for grassroots advocates who are taking on multinational corporations. It enables advocates to represent low income communities that traditionally have not had a voice in environmental debates. For example, E-LAW U.S. is working with advocates in Brazil to protect the Atlantic Forest, with advocates in India to clean up waterways, and with advocates in Mexico to increase public participation in environmental decision-making.

Through such joint projects, E-LAW U.S. currently supports 15 staff positions dedicated to helping communities defend the environment in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Cameroon, Nepal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

E-LAW U.S. helps local advocates launch public interest environmental law groups. These organizations will work for years to come to defend the environment.

In Danger: Dugong

Dugongs are aquatic mammals that live in shallow coastal areas such as wide bays and mangrove channels, protected by nearshore islands. They are found in the warmer waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. They closely resemble their slightly rounder cousins, the manatees — and both are sometimes called “sea cows” because of their tremendous size and placid movements.

Although they have few natural predators, dugongs are threatened by pollution and sedimentation from coastal development. Dugongs have been designated as “vulnerable” by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and “threatened with extinction” under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Despite these added protections, the worldwide population continues to decline.

E-LAW U.S. is working with attorney Naoki Ikeda and the Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation to preserve critical dugong habitat off the island of Okinawa. The Japanese government is planning to construct a U.S. military base that would destroy coral reefs and sea grass meadows where dugongs feed and breed. E-LAW U.S. Law Fellow Derek Snelling provided information on how the Endangered Species Act applies to U.S. military bases abroad. E-LAW U.S. will continue to advise our colleagues about the possibility of filing suit in U.S. federal court to protect these shy and graceful creatures.

Inside E-LAW: Mark Chernaik, Comings and Goings

Mark Chernaik, E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist

"Mark Chernaik is the epitome of a public interest scientist," says Bern Johnson, E-LAW U.S. Executive Director. "He likes nothing better than using his scientific expertise to challenge environmental abuses."

Since joining E-LAW in 1992, Mark has given grassroots advocates all over the world critical support in hundreds of efforts to protect the environment. His work has contributed to major environmental victories, including landmark cases in the Philippines, India and Colombia.

Mark has been a tremendous resource in efforts to ban leaded gasoline in South Africa, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Israel. He helped secure key provisions in the 1999 Philippines Clean Air Act, including the phase-out of leaded gasoline and a ban on the construction of new waste incinerators. Information Mark provided to Danny Fisch at the Israel Union for Environmental Defense helped force Haifa Chemicals to reduce its pollution of the Kishon River.

Before joining E-LAW U.S., Mark received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law. His work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Mark’s work has taken him to visit E-LAW advocates in Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

"Mark is a tireless and brilliant scientist, environmentalist and lawyer whose humble and gracious support of lawyers across the globe never ceases to amaze. There is hardly a scientific issue which Mark does not have a considered, critical and up-to-date response to. He empowers us to continue the fight for justice, wherever we may be."

Angela Andrews
Legal Resources Centre
Cape Town, South Africa

Comings and Goings

Linda Reymers

Linda Reymers has joined the E-LAW U.S. Board of Directors. Since 1984, Linda has served as Grants Director at the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation in Eugene, a leading supporter of grassroots groups in the region pursuing progressive social change.

Alan Graves

Alan Graves is the 2000-2001 E-LAW U.S. Law Fellow. The Fellow position enables recent public interest law graduates to learn about environmental law around the world while meeting the needs of overseas partners for U.S. legal information.

Glenn Gillis

Meet Glenn Gillis, the new E-LAW U.S. Information Technology Manager. Glenn joined E-LAW U.S. in September and one of his first tasks was to set up new work stations and upgrade computer equipment at the U.S. office. (Thanks to Paul Brainerd for his generous support of this upgrade.) Glenn joins a team of E-LAW technicians in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe who help E-LAW partners use the internet to enhance their work to protect the environment.

Hervey Allen

E-LAW U.S. says farewell to computer technician Hervey Allen. Hervey has been enormously helpful as E-LAW has redesigned and refined its internal and international communications systems. Hervey will continue to work with E-LAW as Technical Advisor. We wish him and his wife Paola the best of luck in their new Bay Area home.

Tanzania 2000

Forty-five grassroots advocates from 27 countries participated in this year’s E-LAW Annual Meeting (July 26-28), hosted by the Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team in Arusha, Tanzania.

E-LAW advocates participated in work sessions on reducing air and water pollution, controlling toxic pesticides, increasing public participation in environmental decision making, and gaining access to environmental justice. They bolstered their electronic communication skills, learned about raising funds for their organizations and built the human connections that make the E-LAW network strong.

E-LAW U.S. thanks the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for its support of this important gathering.

Travel Notes: Uganda, Miguel Peirano, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka

Uganda

In July, E-LAW U.S. Staff Attorney Jennifer Gleason and Communications Director Maggie Keenan visited Kampala, Uganda, en route to the E-LAW annual meeting in Arusha, Tanzania. Maggie was pleased to return to Uganda, where she lived from 1995-1999.

Maggie and Jennifer met with several Ugandan environmental advocates, including Irene Makumbi, a lawyer recently hired to work with the Uganda Wildlife Society. Irene is helping ensure that Uganda’s law to implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will adequately protect Uganda’s threatened species.

Latin America Technology Circuit Rider

Miguel Peirano, E-LAW U.S. Latin America Technology Circuit Rider, lives in Montevideo, Uruguay, and travels throughout Latin America training grassroots environmental advocates. Since February, Miguel has trained advocates in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Mexico. Miguel troubleshoots computer problems and shows advocates the most efficient way to get the information they need to protect the environment. Miguel came to Eugene in September to work with E-LAW U.S. and coordinate plans for the coming year. E-LAW U.S. thanks the Avina Group for supporting this critical program.

Ukraine

Two grassroots lawyers from the Ukraine are visiting Eugene this fall. Zoryana Kozak is a lawyer with Ecopravo-L’viv (E-LAW Ukraine) and a lecturer at L’viv National University. Andriy Andrusevych, a teacher and graduate student in the Department of International Law at L’viv National University, is the E-LAW U.S. Technology Circuit Rider for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. The Circuit Rider position is funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Both Andriy and Zoryana came to Eugene as part of the Oregon-L’viv University Partnership.

Costa Rica

E-LAW U.S. helped four young lawyers attend a six-week Land Use and Environmental Law program in San Jose, Costa Rica this summer. Sponsored by the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law and the Universidad de Costa Rica, E-LAW advocates took part in field studies and environmental law classes. Partners from Guadalajara, Mexico City and Quito (Ecuador) participated. E-LAW U.S. thanks Tom Ankersen at the Levin College of Law for making this opportunity available to our Latin American partners.

Sri Lanka

Priya Monagurusamy is a lawyer with the Environmental Foundation, Ltd. in Colombo, host of E-LAW Sri Lanka. Priya visited E-LAW U.S. in September to conduct research on coral reefs and genetically modified organisms. Priya strengthened her computer skills and took steps to make important South Asian environmental law precedents available on E-LAW’s website. Priya’s Working Exchange was sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, as a part of a joint project with seven Asian E-LAW Offices and E-LAW U.S. to protect biodiversity in Asia.

Headlines: E-LAW in the News, Autumn 2000

Russia’s Environmental Crisis

The Nation reports: Russia’s first public interest environmental law firm, Ecojuris Institute, is asking the Supreme Court to reverse President Vladimir Putin’s order abolishing the Russian State Committee on Environmental Protection and the Russian Forest Service, and transferring their functions to the Ministry of Natural Resources. Vera Mischenko, the founder of Ecojuris Institute, believes the Putin government’s anti-environmental initiatives reflect a simple goal: sell off Russia’s remaining natural resources quickly to attract the foreign investment Putin sees as vital to rejuvenating the moribund economy. (September 18-25, 2000)

Vera, a Goldman Environmental Prize winner, has worked with E-LAW since 1993.

Eugene Globalist Takes Worldwide Outlook

The Register-Guard reports: “While other countries have severe environmental problems, many nations actually have more protective environmental laws,” says Bern Johnson, E-LAW U.S. Executive Director. “A number of nations have given citizens a constitutional right to a clean environment, a right not extended to U.S. citizens.” (Eugene, September 6, 2000)

Lake Victoria Vulnerable to Cyanide from New Mine

The Environment News Service reports: Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa has inaugurated the $165 million Geita Gold Mine, 12.4 miles upstream from the southern shore of Lake Victoria. E-LAW advocate Tundu Lissu of Tanzania’s Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team (LEAT) says the Tanzanian government should think about long term environmental damages from a cyanide spill rather than short-term financial gains. E-LAW advocate Godber Tumushabe of Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) in Uganda is calling on Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania — the three countries bordering Lake Victoria — for a comprehensive system to monitor the gold mining activity. The Geita Gold Mine is jointly owned by Ashanti Goldfields of Ghana and South Africa’s AngloGold, the world’s largest gold producer. (Nairobi, August 23, 2000)

Participants at E-LAW’s Annual Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania (July 26-28, 2000), offered legal and scientific support to advocates in East Africa challenging the Geita Gold Mine.

Tobacco Lawsuits Worldwide

National Public Radio reports from the 11th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Chicago: Other countries are following the example set in the U.S. and are suing tobacco companies to recover health care costs. Cases are already pending in South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. NPR quotes attorney Phillip Karugaba on anti-tobacco efforts in Uganda. (Washington, D.C., August 9, 2000)

E-LAW U.S. is working with Phillip and other Ugandan advocates representing cigarette smokers on cases that claim British American Tobacco sells defective, harmful products with inadequate and misleading health warnings.

Forest Project Puts Canada Treaty to Test

The InterPress Third World News Agency reports: A lawsuit environmental groups filed against the Cascada lumber project slated for southern Chile has turned into a test of the environment protocol of the free trade agreement Chile signed with Canada in 1997.

The Chile-Canada Commission for Environmental Cooperation took up the complaint initiated by Fiscalía del Medio Ambiente (FIMA), a public interest environmental law firm in Chile. If the binational commission, based in Canada, determines that the treaty’s environmental standards have been violated, the Chilean government risks charges of non-compliance with the 1997 free trade accord. (Santiago, August 4, 2000)

For several years, E-LAW has been providing FIMA with legal and scientific information to challenge Boise Cascade`s plans in southern Chile. In July, FIMA became the host of E-LAW Chile.

Lawyers Forge Unity to Combat Environmental Degradation

A profile of E-LAW U.S. Executive Director Bern Johnson was featured in Tanzania’s The Guardian. Bern is interviewed at the E-LAW Annual Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania (July 26-28, 2000): “This is a critical time to show the growing awareness of environmental issues in Africa... A small but dedicated group of public interest environmental lawyers in Africa are reaching out to others in the region and around the world through the E-LAW network. Significant gains have been made.” (Arusha, August 4, 2000)

Pygmies Wonder if Oil Pipeline Will Ease Their Poverty

The New York Times reports: “There is not one example in Africa where oil has led to development,” says Samuel Nguiffo, Secretary General of the Center for Environment and Development in Cameroon. Samuel is leading the challenge against the World Bank funded Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. “Look at Nigeria, Angola, the two Congos, Gabon. They all have an overabundance of oil, and what do they have to show for it? We can even say that the exploitation of oil has retarded their development. What are the chances that things will be any different in Chad or Cameroon?” (Foreign Desk, July 10, 2000)

Samuel, a Goldman Environmental Prize winner, is leading E-LAW’s efforts to reach out to more African advocates working to protect the environment through law.

Lawsuit Reveals Depth of Pollution in Israeli River

The Los Angeles Times reports: For decades, chemical plants, oil refineries, an electrical power plant, the world’s largest producer of potassium nitrate fertilizer and Haifa’s entire sewage system have been dumping sludge into the Kishon River. Former navy combat divers who trained in the river now report cancers and strange illnesses. Three divers and the widow of a fourth have sued the government and the military in the Israeli Supreme Court, alleging that authorities refused to conduct a meaningful investigation of the Kishon pollution and whitewashed any attempts to probe the matter.

Only in the last five years, forced by court orders and a landmark lawsuit filed by the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED), have some factories taken measures to reduce the level of heavy metals and other poisons flowing into the river. (Haifa, July 8, 2000)

E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist Mark Chernaik located an epidemiologist at the University of Southern California who agreed to help IUED and participate, if necessary, on the Supreme Court Commission appointed to investigate the case. E-LAW has worked with advocates at IUED since 1993.

Brazilian Activists Fear Bio-Exploitation in Amazon

Reuters reports: André Lima and other Brazilian environmentalists are sounding an alarm over a government decree that they say could give foreigners access and possibly exclusive rights to genetic material from plants and animals in the Amazon, the world’s largest rain forest. (Brasilia, July 1, 2000)

André, a lawyer with Instituto Socioambiental, has been active in the E-LAW network since 1996.