Since 2014, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation (PMAFF) has been a proud supporter of the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC). PMAFF funding has enabled ELPC to expand their staff to add talented public interest environmental attorneys and other advocates who work tirelessly to promote ELPC’s environmental program.
Founded in 1993, the Environmental Law & Policy Center is one of the Midwest’s leading public interest environmental legal advocacy organizations. ELPC’s multidisciplinary staff of public interest attorneys, environmental business specialists, public policy advocates, and communications specialists – with the help of its Science Advisory Council – pursues a strategic, multi-pronged approach to protect wildlife and biodiversity across the region. In this extraordinary time, as the current administration has attempted to roll back more than 100 environmental regulations, ELPC is driving solutions to protect the Midwest’s wild and natural places, biodiversity, and threatened species.
One example of ELPC’s multifaceted approach is its work to protect Lake Erie’s delicate ecosystem from harmful algae blooms that threaten the lake’s fish and wildlife.
Lake Erie Algae
In 2017, ELPC lawyers sued the U.S. EPA for failing to enforce the Clean Water Act and protect Lake Erie communities. In a precedential legal victory, a federal judge agreed and the Ohio EPA declared western Lake Erie officially “impaired” in 2018. ELPC continues to hold the Ohio EPA and U.S. EPA accountable through litigation to ensure effective clean-up mechanisms are implemented.
In addition to its litigation, ELPC’s research analyst and policy experts used an innovative research method using satellite imagery to reveal that a key reason for algae blooms were the result of the dramatic growth of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the CAFO manure that runs off into Lake Erie. That manure causes an excess of phosphorus in the water which produces the harmful green algae blooms. Armed with these legal and research strategies, ELPC, working in tandem with its partners, has been able to elevate this issue and hold the State of Ohio’s feet to the fire to push it to better protect Lake Erie’s biodiversity. At the same time, ELPC has supported these efforts with strategic communications that inform and educate the public and policymakers about this urgent environmental issue.
For more information on ELPC: http://elpc.org/
