Welcome ELAW Fellow Anna Fomina

We are thrilled to welcome ELAW Fellow Anna Fomina, a Russian attorney working to protect communities in southwest Siberia from polluting coal operations.
 
The ELAW Fellows Program is adapting to a new world, so we have launched Anna’s program online. We plan to welcome her to Oregon when international travel resumes.
 
Anna is providing assistance to communities near the city of Kiselyovsk, in the major coal mining region of Kemerovo Oblast. The city has several open-pit coal mines that threaten the health of nearby residents. Anna is working to re-locate residents, halt coal production, and restore the region’s ecological balance.
 
In the months ahead, Anna will work with ELAW’s law and science teams to assess health risks faced by residents living near the mines and explore the possibility of seeking justice through the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR.)
 
Anna works as a consultant to the Heinrich-Böll Foundation, provides legal support to the NGO Ecodefense, and cooperates with groups bringing complaints before the ECHR on behalf of protesters who are illegally detained.
 
Anna began online English study at the University of Oregon’s American English Institute (AEI) in September, to better tap legal and scientific resources not available in Russian and facilitate communication with grassroots advocates in the ELAW network.
 
Many thanks to the Trust for Mutual Understanding for making Anna’s ELAW Fellowship possible. Also, thanks to AEI for helping Anna secure a Janet Hughes Mersereau Scholarship.
 
For more information about the ELAW Fellows Program, click here.

Maggie Keenan
Communications Director
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide