Tackling Environmental Problems in Nepal
Children in the village of Dubi on Nepal`s Judi River are exposed to toxic effluent from a tannery factory across the river. PHOTO: Meche Lu
Nepal is an extremely difficult place to protect the environment through law. It is one of the poorest nations in the world and Maoist guerillas foster violence and fear. The rule of law is tenuous: in February of 2005, Nepal`s King Gyanendra dismissed the Prime Minister and his government, instituted martial law, and declared himself absolute sovereign.
Despite these obstacles, grassroots attorneys and scientists at the Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public) are doing great work. Pro Public has worked with E-LAW U.S. since 1995. Together, we have won environmental victories under extreme duress.
Nepal is rich in natural resources, but the average worker earns $240 per year and less than half the population can read or write. Poverty, illiteracy, and political instability have fueled violent opposition.
Taking advantage of a three-month cease-fire, E-LAW U.S. Environmental Research Scientist, Meche Lu, travelled to Nepal in September 2005. She met with Pro Public staff, shared her scientific expertise, and set out to see Pro Public’s work first-hand.
Her first stop was the Bagmati River. It runs directly through Kathmandu and holds deep religious significance for the Nepalese people. Laws regulating discharges into the river are not enforced, and today this sacred river runs black and has an unbearable stench. Pro Public relied on scientific support from E-LAW U.S. to win a Supreme Court Order to prohibit dumping in the Bagmati River and is now working to ensure that the order is enforced.
Meche Lu, E-LAW U.S. Environmental Research Scientist, discusses restoration plans with women living near Barju Lake, Biratnagar.
Next, Meche visited Balkhu – one of Kathmandu’s few open spaces. This proposed park site wasn`t always open to the public. Ten years ago, the government used the park for its Publication House. In 1997, Pro Public won a court case returning the park to its rightful owners: the people of Nepal. "Now you can breathe the fresh air and children have a place to play their games," says Prakash Mani Sharma, founder and General Secretary of Pro Public.
From Kathmandu, Meche headed to Biratnagar, Nepal`s second largest city and home to a Pro Public branch office. Pro Public staff in Biratnagar focus on water contamination and fighting corruption. They accompanied Meche on a visit to local tanneries. Appalled by the conditions, Meche reported, "The smell was overwhelming, my airways constricted, and I had an asthma attack."
Tanneries in Biratnagar have been dumping untreated wastes in the Judi River for many years. Meche said, "I saw plant workers cleaning debris from open channels so that a non-treated blue salty sludge could flow more easily into the river." Across the river, Meche visited the village of Dubi. Children here play in the river`s polluted waters and residents collect this water for use at home and on the farm. E-LAW U.S. is working with Pro Public to demand that Biratnagar`s tanneries treat their toxic effluents before discharging them to the Judi River.
Despite overwhelming obstacles, Pro Public has celebrated landmark victories in Nepalese courts. Prakash Mani Sharma announced a victory in December 2005, following a nine-year battle for clean air. On December 9, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered the closure of all illegal brick kilns in Kathmandu Valley. Illegal brick kilns lack pollution control devices and threaten the health of Kathmandu Valley`s 1.5 million residents.
Pro Public attorney Prakash Upreti near a canal where effluents are discharged into the Judi River.
PHOTO: Meche Lu
"I remember meeting Prakash and the farmers of Bhaktapur in 1996 to figure out a solution to this public health hazard," says Mark Chernaik, E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist. "It is incredibly rewarding to see this victory." E-LAW U.S. Staff Attorney, Jennifer Gleason, also worked on this case. She provided U.S. case precedents that supported Pro Public`s legal arguments and connected Prakash with Macon Cowles, a private environmental attorney in the U.S. who provided pro bono support.
E-LAW U.S. has worked with Pro Public to win many hard-fought battles: Pro Public has forced the government to offer lead-free fuel, set solid waste dumping standards in Kathmandu, and set minimum air quality standards. Pro Public also convinced Nepal`s Supreme Court to hold that a clean and healthy environment is a constitutional right.
Pro Public`s work under harrowing circumstances is an inspiration and E-LAW U.S. looks forward to future collaboration with its partners in Nepal. Many thanks to the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for its support of E-LAW`s work in Nepal.
Building a New Liberia
Jerome Verdier (on left) and Alfred Brownell at the airport in Monrovia. PHOTO: Jen Gleason
E-LAW advocate Jerome Verdier has been named head of Liberia`s nine-member Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Commission will help Liberia recover from the civil war, which killed roughly a quarter of a million people before ending in 2003.
Jerome told Reuter`s, "Liberians ... want to see accountability and justice for the atrocities that were committed." *
Jerome traveled to Eugene last year to work with E-LAW U.S. to strengthen the rule of law and defend the environment and human rights in Liberia.
Jerome and his colleague, Alfred Brownell, worked with E-LAW U.S. to launch Green Advocates and reform Liberia`s forestry sector. Liberia is richly endowed with tropical rainforests, iron ore, diamonds, and gold. The rapid exploitation of these natural resources fueled the civil conflict.
Green Advocates paved the way for Liberia`s new President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, to sign her first Executive Order this month, canceling all timber concessions in Liberia.
The Analyst, a leading Liberian newspaper, named Jerome and Alfred "2005 Human Rights Advocates of the Year." The newspaper wrote, "This group [Green Advocates], though inconspicuous in terms of `blowing their own horns,` remains the bulwark between a country of lawlessness and a free people of liberty ruled by justice for all."
Congratulations to Jerome, Alfred, and Green Advocates for their pioneering efforts to build a new Liberia!
* Reuters, February 21, 2006, "Liberian rights body to seek trial for abusers," Katherine Houreld in Monrovia.
Belize Bench and Bar
Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy (BELPO) Vice President and E-LAW partner Candy Gonzalez shaking hands with the Honorable Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
"I paid special attention and recognition of the role Candy Gonzalez played but for her fortuitous presence in NEAC representing BACONGO and the other agencies the case* might not have seen the light of day. It is one public issue case that no costs was awarded against the losing side, by the trial court, in the Court of Appeal and even the Privy Council."
Honorable Abdulai Conteh
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Belize
* The judicial review of the the EIA regulations in relation to the building of the Chalillo Dam.
On January 20, 2006, E-LAW U.S. joined the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy (BELPO) to co-host the Seventh Annual Belize Bench and Bar Summit. Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh of the Supreme Court of Belize says this is the only event of its kind in the Caribbean. The focus of this year`s Summit was "Sustainable Development: Challenges for the Environment and the Law."
E-LAW U.S. Board Chair David Hunter, a professor at American University`s Washington College of Law, delivered a keynote address, as did E-LAW partner Patricio Martin Sanchez of the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA). E-LAW partner Candy Gonzalez of BELPO was a featured presenter.
Belize faces serious environmental threats and it is good news that the Summit this year focused on the challenges of protecting the environment.
Left to right: Michel Chebat, President of the Belize Bar Association; the Honorable Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Candy Gonzalez, BELPO; David Hunter, E-LAW U.S. Board Chair; Patricio Martin, Cancun office of the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental Mexican (CEMDA); and Antoinette Moore, BELPO.
On Belize`s Channel 7 news that evening, Bar President Michel Chebat said the Summit sent a clear message that laws concerning the environment in Belize will be enforced.
Belize has only had one true environmental lawsuit to date, commonly referred to as the "BACONGO case," to protect the Macal River watershed from a proposed hydroelectric facility. This case exposed deficiencies in Belize`s enforcement of environmental laws, particularly the lack of public participation in environmental decision-making.
The Bench and Bar Summit is a step in the right direction and sheds light on the potential for motivated citizens to use the law to protect the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and all of Belize`s natural heritage.
E-LAW U.S. thanks the Summit Foundation for its support of E-LAW`s work to protect the Mesoamerican Reef.
Protecting Jamaica's Wetlands
E-LAW U.S. is helping partners at the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) protect Jamaica's beaches, reefs, and wetlands. JET is leading the way in protecting the environment through law in the Caribbean.
Pear Tree Bottom, a biologically rich area on Jamaica`s North Coast. (PHOTO: Wendy Lee)
Pear Tree Bottom
For the first time in Jamaica's history, a local organization has filed for judicial review of a development project. JET submitted the precedent-setting action challenging construction of the 1,900-room Bahia Principe Resort in Pear Tree Bottom, a biologically rich area on Jamaica`s North Coast. The proposed resort site includes a dry limestone forest, freshwater marshes, a river, coastal wetlands, wildlife habitat, and one of the healthiest coral reefs on the North Coast.
Before the public had an opportunity to weigh in, and before environmental permits were issued, the Government of Jamaica allowed land to be cleared to make room for the resort.
To strengthen legal protections for Jamaica's coast, JET, four individuals, and the Northern Jamaican Conservation Association (NJCA) filed a lawsuit challenging the approval process for the Bahia Resort. In November 2005, the court granted JET permission to bring the case. Hearings began in February 2006. At JET`s request, E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist, Mark Chernaik, evaluated the proposed resort's environmental impact assessment (EIA) and pointed out its many flaws. E-LAW U.S. Staff Attorney, Jennifer Gleason, helped JET attorney, Akilah Anderson, research legal arguments and prepare submissions for the precedent-setting case. E-LAW U.S. will continue to collaborate closely with JET as the case unfolds.
Canoe Valley
In December 2005, JET learned that a U.S. corporation planned to build a deep-water port and limestone mine in Canoe Valley on Jamaica's South Coast. This area is one of Jamaica's most valuable and unspoiled wetlands. Florida-based Rinker Materials was applying for a mining license and presenting itself to Jamaican authorities as an environmentally friendly corporation.
With help from a University of Oregon law student and a public interest lawyer in Florida, E-LAW U.S. collected evidence that Rinker had a track record of violating environmental laws in Florida. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection had punished Rinker for violating water quality standards and other environmental regulations at its facilities across Florida.
JET shared this information with regulators, attended stakeholder and public meetings for Canoe Valley community members, and generated many letters objecting to Rinker`s proposed project. In March, JET announced good news: the government of Jamaica is no longer considering Rinker`s proposal!
Diana McCaulay, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET)
Diana McCaulay Wins 2005 McFarlane Award
Diana McCaulay, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), received the 2005 Euan P. McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership in the Insular Caribbean. Established in 1987, the award is named for the late Euan McFarlane of St. Croix, who was actively involved in environmental causes in the Caribbean. The prize is administered by the Island Resources Foundation.
Diana was presented the award in February 2006 in recognition of 15 years of leadership within the environmental conservation movement in Jamaica. Her nomination noted her role in founding and managing JET, promoting hands-on projects to clean up Jamaica`s waterways and beaches, supporting environmental education in the schools through teacher training and curriculum development, encouraging community education through outreach programs and in the media, and serving as a tireless advocate for effective environmental regulation and enforcement in Jamaica.
Congratulations Diana!
The Science Behind Environmental Victories
The Science Behind Environmental Victories
Communities challenging polluters need strong science, and E-LAW U.S. is giving communities around the world the scientific tools they need. In recent months, E-LAW U.S. scientists have helped communities in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ukraine, Nigeria, and more win victories for the environment, public health, and human rights. Sound environmental policies must be built on solid science, and many communities do not have access to the scientific expertise and resources they need. With strategic scientific support, communities can gain a strong voice to challenge environmental abuses and chart a cleaner future. The following are a few examples.
Protecting a flood zone
Dhaka, Bangladesh
E-LAW partners at the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association won a high court victory protecting a critical flood zone in the capital city of Dhaka. E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist, Mark Chernaik, provided an expert witness affidavit explaining the risk of filling the city`s flood zone. A developer had proposed filling the flood zone for a housing project.
Testing the waters of Lake Victoria, Mwanza, Tanzania
Protecting Lake Victoria
Mwanza, Tanzania
Two large fish-processing plants have been discharging untreated effluent directly into Lake Victoria. E-LAW U.S. worked with James Njelwa at the Lawyers` Environmental Action Team`s (LEAT) Mwanza office to design an environmental monitoring plan and test the effluent. Lab results showed harmful and impermissible levels of organic pollutants. Since the monitoring, one of the companies installed an effluent treatment plant and the other one closed.
Stopping illegal sand dune mining
Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka
E-LAW U.S. obtained an expert opinion from two leading sand dune ecologists for E-LAW partners at Center for Environmental Justice who challenged sand dune mining on Sri Lanka`s northwest coast. The Government of Sri Lanka has now proposed to settle the case on very favorable terms: No mining will be allowed within 300 meters of the shore, there will be quantitative restrictions on sand mining elsewhere, and enhanced patrols will curtail illegal activities.
Protecting communities
Vilshyna, Ukraine
E-LAW partners at Environment-People-Law (EPL, formerly Ecopravo-Lviv) represented residents in Vilshyna, in western Ukraine, who lack clean drinking water because their wells have been contaminated by a coal enrichment factory. E-LAW U.S. helped EPL measure the amount of contamination in drinking water wells and pinpoint the factory as the source. In January, the Chervonograd court ordered the factory to relocate affected community members.
Ending gas flaring
Niger Delta, Nigeria
More gas is flared in the oil fields of the Niger Delta than anywhere else in the world. E-LAW partners at Friends of the Earth Nigeria won a Federal High Court order to end this harmful and wasteful practice. Pollutants from gas flares expose Niger Delta communities to health risks and damage the environment. E-LAW U.S. prepared a quantitative health risk assessment that its partners used to convince decision-makers to end gas flaring.
Headlines: E-LAW in the News, Spring 2006
Jingjing Zhang speaks with residents of Xiping Village, Fujian Province.
China`s Brockovich
E-LAW partner Jingjing Zhang is called "a dead ringer for Erin Brockovich" in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ("Focus on Women: China`s `Brockovich` works for poor, environment," March 1, 2006, Craig Simons for Cox International). Jingjing was recently in Eugene, working with E-LAW U.S. staff to protect Chinese citizens from environmental hazards. Jingjing directs the law program at the Beijing-based Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims. In January, Jingjing helped win one of the biggest settlements in Chinese history when a court in China`s Fujian province ordered the Rongping Lianying Chemical Factory to compensate more than 1,600 villagers. Toxic releases of chromium and chlorate from Rongping`s chlorine plant have polluted waterways, rice paddies and bamboo groves.
Caption: Jingjing Zhang speaks with residents of Xiping Village, Fujian Province.
Pollution`s Youngest Victims
A two-part program on CBS News (March 5-6) reports that children in La Oroya, Peru, are suffering serious health problems due to lead emissions from a smelter owned by the St. Louis-based Doe Run Corporation. Doe Run Peru originally agreed to reduce emissions by January 2007, but has asked the Government of Peru for an extension until 2011.
E-LAW U.S. worked with partners at the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law and the Civil Association Labor to conduct soil sampling, review technical reports, support an intervention plan by the Centers for Disease Control, and help the community make its case to authorities. E-LAW partners are providing legal support in a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of ten La Oroya residents, alleging that factory operations are violating their human right to a healthy environment.
Energy Maquiladoras
E-LAW partner Carla Garcia Zendejas was interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle about the environmental impacts of U.S.-owned power plants and natural gas terminals in northern Mexico. The majority of the energy generated by these plants is destined for U.S. markets, while Mexico gets the pollution and risks. Carla said: "You know that saying, `Pobre Mexico! So far from God and so close to the United States`... You can put things you don`t want in your backyard, and your backyard is us." ("On The Border," December 10, 2005, Tyche Hendricks.)
Carla is a Tijuana-based environmental attorney. She helped start the Border Power Plant Working Group. She has been collaborating with the E-LAW network since 1998.
Working Exchange Fellowship: Fazrin Rahmadani, Indonesia
Eugene birdwatchers invited Fazrin for an early morning outing.
From left to right: Dennis Arendt, George Grier, Larry McQueen, Fazrin Rahmadani, Paul Sherrell, and Kit Larsen.
In March 2006, Fazrin Rahmadani traveled from the rainforests of Borneo`s East Kalimantan to participate in a two-week Working Exchange Fellowship at E-LAW U.S. Fazrin is a forester with the Balikpapan office of the Institut Hukum Sumberdaya Alam. He works to protect critical habitat of the endangered orangutan and other forest species.
In addition to conducting forest surveys, Fazrin works to strengthen forest management policies and educates communities about ways to reduce fire danger. According to Fazrin, three hectares of East Kalimantan forest were lost every minute in 2003, due to illegal logging.
E-LAW U.S. arranged for Fazrin to meet with local forestry and law experts to learn more about how Oregonians protect Pacific Northwest forests. E-LAW U.S. thanks Doug Heiken of the Oregon Natural Resources Council; attorneys Jeff Kent and Travis Ahner; Tim Ingalsbee of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology; Pete Frost and Charlie Tebbutt of the Western Environmental Law Center; Kate Skillman; and attorney Dan Stotter. E-LAW U.S. also thanks Ken Meyer and Jane Engert for their gift to E-LAW U.S. on behalf of the late Virginia Webbert, to support work in Indonesia.
Inside E-LAW U.S.: Remembering Carlota & Vincent; Celebrating 15 Years
E-LAW Advocate Carlota Sanchez Aizcorbe of Argentina (d. 2005)
Remembering Carlota and Vincent
E-LAW has bid farewell to two pioneering grassroots advocates. In December 2005, Carlota Sanchez Aizcorbe was killed in a boating accident on Argentina’s Tigre River. In 1983, Carlota founded Fundaci—n Pro Tigre y Cuenca del Plata (Pro Tigre) to protect freshwater resources in Argentina. She became active in the E-LAW network in 1993.
E-LAW Advocate Vincent Shauri of Tanzania (d. 2006)
In February 2006, Vincent Shauri passed away following treatment for cancer and a bout of malaria. Vincent was Executive Director of the Lawyer’s Environmental Action Team in Tanzania. He became active in the E-LAW network in 1995. Vincent was laid to rest at his birthplace, in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Stanford Recognizes E-LAW
E-LAW`s high-impact work in Chile is featured in the latest issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Laila Weir, a freelance writer based in Santiago, describes E-LAW`s work with Chilean partners to stop the illegal export of timber and hold a metal processing company accountable for contaminating a border community in the Atacama Desert. The full report is available on E-LAW`s web site.
Lori Maddox (third from left), E-LAW U.S. Associate Director and keynote speaker at Hollins University`s first annual Women`s Leadership and Social Change Conference. ((L to R) Jane Aiken, Washington University Professor of Law; Mildred Emory Persinger, World YWCA Representative to the UN; Lori Maddox, Associate Director, E-LAW U.S.; and Debra Abbott, founder of the Stillwater Institute for Social Justice.)
Women’s Leadership at Hollins
Lori Maddox, E-LAW U.S. Associate Director, delivered a keynote address at Hollins University`s first annual Women`s Leadership and Social Change Conference. She is pictured here (third from left) with fellow alumnae speakers (L to R) Jane Aiken, Washington University Professor of Law; Mildred Emory Persinger, World YWCA Representative to the UN; and Debra Abbott, founder of the Stillwater Institute for Social Justice. Hollins University is located in Roanoke, Virginia.
Celebrating 15 Years
This year, E-LAW U.S. is celebrating 15 years of work with partners around the world to fight for clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems. We have come far from the vision of our founders and have built a strong, vibrant community of courageous environmental advocates from 60 countries who are dedicated to sharing their expertise, experience, and support to colleagues around the world.
In celebration of E-LAW`s anniversary, we are holding events throughout the year. In April and May, E-LAW U.S. is hosting events in Eugene, Portland, and Corvallis with visiting attorney Hector Huertas of Centro de Asistencia Legal Popular (CEALP) of Panama. His visit is generously supported by the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, established by the Grand Ronde Tribe of Oregon. Spirit Mountain Community Fund is matching gifts to E-LAW U.S. for our work with indigenous peoples around the world.
Law students from the National University of Rosario in Argentina. From left to right: Francisco Jose Venetucci (Argentina), Peggy Dame (American English Institute), Jen Gleason (E-LAW U.S. Staff Attorney), Meche Lu (E-LAW U.S. Environmental Research Scientist), Tilah Larson (E-LAW U.S. extern), Lori Maddox (E-LAW U.S. Associate Director), Marianela Savarecio (Argentina), Bern Johnson (E-LAW U.S. Executive Director), Samanta Lastorta (Argentina), Maria Fernanda Gonzalez (Argentina), Fazrin Rahmadani (Working Exchange Fellow, Indonesia), and Carolyn Sykora (E-LAW U.S. Education Director).
Law Students Visit from Argentina
Law students from the National University of Rosario in Argentina visited E-LAW U.S. in March. They learned about E-LAW`s work in Argentina cleaning up waterways and protecting communities from toxic pesticides.