January 2007

ARTICLES  
     

  Environmental Justice Issues in a Post-Hurricane Context Explored at Workshop
   

      

A small but enthusiastic group of legal aid attorneys, law students, and citizen activists gathered in Pensacola on September 21 to confront issues facing Florida communities during post-hurricane rebuilding.

A joint project of Florida Legal Services and Access to Justice Subcommittee of the Public Interest Committee of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Florida Bar, the workshop “Environmental Justice-- In the Aftermath: A Look at the Effect of Hurricanes on the Environment and Affordable Housing” aimed to bring awareness of disparity of environmental impacts to attorneys serving disadvantaged communities. Additionally, the workshop was an endeavor to provide those attorneys with tools needed to identify similar issues with their clients and to properly address them.

Featured speakers included Leslie Powell and Rocky Cabagnot of Legal Services of North Florida; Francine Ishmael of Citizens Against Toxic Exposure, Inc.; Howard Jones of Holley Action Group; Marilyn Kershner of Florida Community Loan Fund; Nicole Kibert of Carlton Fields, P.A.; Deborah Schroth of Florida Legal Services; Randall Webster of Sapient Consultant Group; and Jeanne Zokovitch of WildLaw. They touched on a number of topics, including disposal of construction debris, green building, and the inclusion of affordable housing in rebuilding efforts.

“I have never had such a good time listening to so much bad news,” stated attorney Barbara Curbelo Cusack, who attended the program. “I am motivated to research more about these issues.”

The Florida Bar Foundation underwote the majority of the costs of the CLE-accredited workshop, enabling participants to attend for a nominal fee. Plans are in the works to repeat the workshop in other locations.

Attorneys and law students with an interest in environmental justice are invited to visit the Florida Legal Services online training calendar (http://www.floridalegal.org/Training/Calendar List.htm) or the ELULS website (http://www.eluls.org) for further information on upcoming workshops as it becomes available. Other resources are available on the ELULS website, including basic information intended for practitioners outside of the environmental field and the general public. Want more? Membership in ELULS entitles you to access the online ELULS Treatise, with in-depth features on the full range of topics relevant to the Florida environmental attorney.
 

 

Copyright 2008, The Environmental and Land Use Law Section of The Florida Bar