Expo '74: 50 years of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest, Enforcement Panel and The Future of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest
Date of Event
4-12-2024
Description
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Expo '74, the Gonzaga Climate Institute—in collaboration with the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington, the Washington State Attorney General, and the Gonzaga Law School Center for Law, Ethics, and Commerce—hosted a one day conference at Gonzaga looking retrospectively at the environmental justice work done over this half century and what work remains to be done in the coming decades.
Part 4 features two events, the Enforcement Panel with Twa-le Abrahamson, Bill Sherman, Colleen Melody, and Katy Scott, and the Concluding Session, titled The Future of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest featuring Vanessa R. Waldref, Cliff Villa, and Greg Gordon with Brian G. Henning acting as moderator.
Twa-le Abrahamson is enrolled Spokane and a descendant of the Colville, Coeur d’Alene and Navajo Nations. Twa-le is a graduate from the University of Washington with a degree in environmental studies and a minor in restoration ecology. She has been a social, health and environmental justice organizer for over 20 years. She worked for several years in Natural Resource management for the Spokane Tribe, and was recognized by the USEPA for outstanding community education and outreach along with Jeff Ferguson, Rachel Crow-Spreading Wings and Yvonne Abrahamson for their production of “InnerTribal Beat,” a Native American news and music show focused on environmental news in the northwest region. Twa-le worked for the Washington State Human Rights Commission as a Civil Rights Investigator, serves on the Washington State Office of Equity Community Advisory Board and the Indigenous Environmental Network Board of Directors. Twa-le is currently the Executive Director of the Indigenous Rights and Reparation Foundation.
Bill Sherman is chief of the Environmental Protection Division of the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. The Environmental Protection Division brings litigation under state and federal laws that protect Washingtonians and our environment, including civil lawsuits and environmental criminal prosecutions under state law. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review. He has served as Special Assistant to U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in King County, and as a Visiting Professor at Seattle University School of Law.
Colleen Melody serves as Chief of the Civil Rights Division in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. The Civil Rights Division enforces federal and state laws protecting the rights of vulnerable populations in Washington, with an emphasis on civil rights and anti-discrimination work. Colleen leads a team of attorneys, investigators, and staff on enforcement matters statewide. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Colleen served as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC. There, she brought enforcement actions to remedy discrimination on the bases of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, and disability. Following law school, she served as a law clerk to Judge Ronald M. Gould of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Katelyn (Katy) Scott was born and raised in the Spokane area, and is highly passionate about clean water and environmental justice. Katy attended Wellpinit High School on the Spokane Indian Reservation, then went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Washington. She then earned her J.D., with a certificate in Public Interest Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. During law school, Katy spent her summers working as a whitewater rafting guide and kayak guide, while also working in a personal injury firm. Prior to joining Spokane Riverkeeper, Katy worked in Plaintiff's personal injury law. Now as Water Protector at Spokane Riverkeeper, Katy manages our Clean Water Defense and River Flow Protections (Water Conservation) programs.
Greg Gordon was born at the junction of Cherry Creek and the South Fork of the Platte River and spent much of his adult life living along the Clark Fork and Dearborn rivers. He now lives a short walk from the confluence of Hangman Creek and the Spokane River and is a professor of Environmental Studies at Gonzaga University.
Vanessa R. Waldref became the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington on October 7, 2021. U.S. Attorney Waldref was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on July 26, 2021, and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2021. Ms. Waldref is responsible for overseeing the prosecution of any federal criminal case brought within the 20 counties of Eastern Washington. The Office also represents the United States in all civil matters brought within this territory. Ms. Waldref is from Spokane with deep roots in Eastern Washington. Ms. Waldref served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington from 2013 to 2020, handling a wide variety of civil and criminal cases. Most recently, U.S. Attorney Waldref served as a Trial Attorney with the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice where she litigated cases in federal courts around the country arising under a range of environmental protection statutes. Since 2015, Ms. Waldref has taught courses in Environmental Law, Labor & Employment Law, and Conflict of Laws at Gonzaga University School of Law. After graduating from Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, WA, U.S. Attorney Waldref received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University in 2002, and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University in 2008.
Cliff Villa serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management, where he provides policy direction for programs including Superfund cleanup, Brownfields funding, hazardous waste management, underground storage tanks, Federal facilities, and emergency response. At EPA, Villa supports Biden Administration priorities centered on environmental justice and climate change, drawing upon expanded resources provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Currently on leave from the tenured faculty at the University of New Mexico School of Law, Villa has also taught at Columbia Law School and Seattle University. Before teaching full-time at UNM, Villa spent more than 20 years as an EPA attorney in Washington, D.C.; Denver, Colorado; and Seattle, Washington. Among other publications, Villa is the lead author of ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: LAW, POLICY & REGULATION (3rd ed. 2020), and author of legal scholarship on environmental justice including Remaking Environmental Justice (2020); and Don’t Blame the Flint River (2022). Villa was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with local roots tracing back to the Atrisco Land Grant of 1692.
Brian G. Henning is Professor of Philosophy and of Environmental Studies at Gonzaga University and is the inaugural director and founder of the Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment.
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Sponsored By
Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment; United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington; Washington State Attorney General's Office; and Gonzaga Law School's Center for Law, Ethics, and Commerce
Recommended Citation
Abrahamson, Twa-Le; Sherman, Bill; Melody, Colleen; Scott, Katy; Waldref, Vanessa R.; Villa, Cliff; and Gordon, Greg, "Expo '74: 50 years of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest, Enforcement Panel and The Future of Environmental Justice in the Inland Northwest" (2024). Climate, Water, and the Environment Events. 35.
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/climateevents/35
Copyright Information
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