Inside E-LAW U.S.: 2005 Annual Meeting, Thanks Rep. DeFazio & Sen. Wyden

2005 E-LAW Annual Meeting
February 27 - March 3, 2005
Yachats, Oregon

The 2005 E-LAW Annual Meeting was a tremendous gathering of leading environmental defenders from around the world. Committed advocates from 30 countries came together in Yachats, on the Oregon coast, to collaborate on critical work to protect the environment, public health, and human rights.

This year`s meeting included two special workshops to help environmental leaders build skills to reform international finance and trade, and use science to safeguard public health.

Kay Treakle, Program Officer with the C.S. Mott Foundation, participated in the workshop on international finance and trade. She was joined by David Hunter, an E-LAW U.S. Board Member with extensive experience working with accountability mechanisms for international financial institutions. Participants found the training valuable and are now giving communities a stronger voice in reforming international financial institutions and preventing environmental degradation.

E-LAW U.S. scientists Mark Chernaik and Meche Lu facilitated the science workshop. They were joined by E-LAW U.S. board member Glenn Miller. Glenn is Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences and Health at the University of Nevada at Reno and has tremendous experience addressing the environmental impacts of mining.

The workshop helped environmental lawyers: 1) protect family health by helping communities participate effectively in the review of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for proposed projects; 2) clean up polluted environments by obtaining data about environmental conditions; and 3) present expert opinions about environmental threats and protecting citizens` health to courts and agencies.

Following the workshop, E-LAW advocates have been applying what they learned. For example, attorneys in Nepal identified deficiencies in the EIA for a proposed medical waste management program that includes an incineration facility in the Kathmandu valley. Medical waste incinerators frequently emit significant amounts of dioxin, which can be particularly hazardous to children and pregnant women. E-LAW U.S. is also helping these attorneys obtain an affidavit from leading groundwater resource experts to educate the Supreme Court of Nepal about the potential harm of unregulated groundwater abstraction in the Kathmandu valley.

Special thanks to the many generous supporters that made the 2005 E-LAW Annual Meeting possible.

Welcome Aidan!

Glenn Gillis and his wife Lisa welcome the arrival of Aidan, born in Eugene on April 21. Glenn is E-LAW U.S. Information Technology Manager. Aidan is Glenn and Lisa`s first child.

Thank you

Congressman DeFazio is photographed with Simon Amaduobogha, a Nigerian attorney who is launching the Community Defence Law Foundation. CDLF will become Nigeria`s only non-profit organization filing lawsuits on behalf of communities against oil companies.

U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore) and District Aid Phillip Hudspeth have been instrumental in helping E-LAW U.S. secure visas for grassroots advocates traveling to Eugene to collaborate with E-LAW U.S. Forty grassroots advocates from 30 countries traveled to Oregon in February to participate in the 2005 E-LAW Annual Meeting. This would not have been possible without Representative DeFazio`s help.

Representative DeFazio also helps in other ways. He has joined U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and submitted letters of support on behalf of E-LAW U.S. for funding proposals submitted to the U.S. State Department`s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Thank you Congressman DeFazio and Senator Wyden!