EPN Breakfast Event - 2024 Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference with the Ohio Environmental Council

Program Overview

In recent years, emerging non-point source contaminants like PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and single event contaminants such as the East Palestine Train Derailment have highlighted the limits of government to protect the health of comFurther, monitoring, enforcement, and regulation efforts differ between states.¹

Join this event to hear from multisector environmental specialists on the ability for federal and state regulators to protect Ohioans from health-hazardous toxins. Speakers will address no less than three recent examples. First, in August 2014, more than 400,000 residents of Toledo, Ohio (about half the population of the U.S. State of Delaware) were ordered to not drink tap water contaminated from Lake Erie algal microcystins. Heather Raymond will outline the ‘precautionary principle” and lessons learned from the 10-year anniversary of the Toledo Water Crisis. Second, in February 2023, the need for rapid response to the train derailment in East Palestine by the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uncovered challenges in accountability, transparency, and communication between regulators and affected communities. Responses to the crises have included an EPA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) order holding the responsible industry, Norfolk Southern, responsible for environmental clean-up as well as calls for new legislation strengthening rail industry safety, and federal and state agency planning to address long-term recovery in East Palestine. Haley Shoemaker will offer firsthand insights into the community response to the train derailments.

In April 2024, the US EPA issued the first-ever national drinking water standard for a group of synthetic chemicals known as PFAS. PFAS exhibit grease-resistant and heat-proof traits and are used widely used in food packaging, cookware, clothing, furniture, and firefighting foam.² Known as “forever chemicals”, PFAS are ubiquitous chemicals that resist breakdown in humans, animals, and the environment.³ The new regulatory standard established a Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for five individual PFAS chemicals that is legally enforceable. These new legal requirements give authority to regulatory agencies to monitor water utilities, notify the public of excess levels, and enforce remediation or treatment methods.⁴ Daniel Lee and Dr. Zhiyong Xia will provide insights into PFAS regulation and management.

This EPN Breakfast Event (8:10 to 9:30 a.m.) kicks off the Ohio Environmental Council’s Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference with a session dedicated to understanding the governance of emerging contaminants and environmental risks to our communities. During this morning session an expert panel will draw upon these events and persisting issues to reflect on lessons learned and forward thinking for protecting vulnerable communities. Speakers will address what policy frameworks are needed to safeguard science and protect public health and wellbeing by acknowledging the importance of data-driven decision making and community trust.

From 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., this event will feature a series of breakout sessions examining the legal frameworks of how we relate to the places and spaces we call home. CLE credit offered for practicing attorneys and lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout.

¹ The New York Times, “Behind Toledo’s Water Crisis, a Long-Troubled Lake Erie” (2014) link here.

² National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, “Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)” (n.d.) link here.

³ Environmental Protection Agency, “PFAS Explained” (n.d.) link here.

⁴ Environmental Protection Agency, “PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA’s Commitments to Action 2021-2024” (n.d.) link here.

Agenda

7:15 a.m. Doors open at Ohio State 4-H Center; Coffee served for in-person attendees. 

7:40 a.m. Breakfast buffet served for in-person attendees. 

8:00 a.m. Livestreaming service begins for virtual attendees.  

8:10 a.m. Tim Haab, PhD, interim director, Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources provides welcome remarks. Heather Raymond, MPA, water quality initiative director, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences addresses lessons learned from the 10 year anniversary of the Toledo Water Crisis.

8:20 a.m. Miranda Leppla, JD, director, Environmental Law Clinic, Case Western Reserve University School of Law introduces understanding governance of emerging contaminants and environmental risks to our communities featuring:

Haley Shoemaker, MS, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Columbiana and Mahoning Counties, Ohio State University Extension

Zhiyong Xia, PhD, senior technical director, PFAS Practice, GHD

Daniel Lee, environmental engineer and environmental protection specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Land and Emergency Management

8:50 a.m. Expert dialogue on lessons learned and forward thinking for future contaminant crises with Shoemaker, Xia, and Lee. Moderated by Leppla.

9:10 a.m. Live audience Q & A session for both in-person and virtual audiences

9:25 a.m. Dr. Haab concludes the EPN Breakfast program component. Break and networking session for in-person guests.

9:30 a.m. Chris Tavenor, JD, general counsel, Ohio Environmental Council introduces topic themes and agenda for extended conference sessions.

The Ohio Environmental Council's Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference sessions are listed below. For details on CLE credit for the morning breakfast program and conference sessions as well as speaker and topic details, visit theoec.org/opielc/

9:45 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Main Stage: Two Decades of the Darby Accord featuring:

• Cynthia Vermillion, Hilliard City Council member
• Chris Wyche, Columbus City Council member
• John Tetzloff, President, Darby Creek Association

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Main Stage: Creative Innovations in Utility Scale Solar Siting featuring:

• Tony Logan, Principal Consultant, Agrivoltaics, LLC, and CEO of The Renewables Space, LLC
• Sarah Conley, Director of Operations and Development, Solar and Storage Industries Institute
• Kara Hernstein, Partner, BrickerGraydon

Breakout Room: Recent Major Changes to NEPA and the CEQ Rules and their Impact on Ohio's only National Forest

• Nathan Johnson, OEC Senior Attorney for Land and Water
• Paul Sanford, Director of Policy Analysis, The Wilderness Society

12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Lunch and Main Stage: The Role of Judges in Environmental Law and the Procedure of Standing

• Trent Dougherty, Partner, HubayDougherty
• Heidi Robertson, Steven W. Percy Endowed Professor of Law and Urban Affairs, CSU|LAW at Cleveland State University
• Miranda Leppla, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

• D. Dave Altman, President and founding partner, AltmanNewman Co., LPA
• Justin D. Newman, Vice President and partner, Altman Newman Co., LPA
• Dr. William Auberle
• Dr. Erin Haynes

Breakout Room: Words Matter: Addressing Harmful and Derogatory Place Names

• Jessica Lambert, High Meadows Fellow, The Wilderness Society
• Molly Jo Stanley, Southeast Ohio Regional Director, Ohio Environmental Council

2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Main Stage: Save Ohio Parks and Fight against Fossil Fuels on Public Lands

• Megan Hunter, Supervising Senior Attorney, Earthjustice
• Cathy Cowan Becker, Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member, Save Ohio Parks
• Roxanne Groff, Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member, Save Ohio Parks

Speakers

Heather Raymond, MPA, water quality initiative director, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

Raymond, a national leader on policies and responses regarding harmful algal blooms, joins CFAES from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, where she was state harmful algal bloom (HAB) coordinator and lead hydrogeologist. Raymond is a lead scientist with more than 20 years of experience championing innovative, data-driven water quality programs and policies and is especially adept at building partnerships and communicating science. As leader of the initiative, Raymond supports and leverages the team’s work, coordinates with other water quality-related programs at Ohio State, and emphasizes building stronger ties to water quality programs elsewhere in Ohio, including at agencies and other universities, with the goal of translating the valuable research that we do into applications that have a positive impact on water quality. Raymond has an executive MPA, an MS in hydrogeology, and a BS in geology, all from Ohio University.

Randi Leppla, JD, director, Environmental Law Clinic, Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Miranda Leppla is the director of the Environmental Law Clinic within the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, which will handle various environmental and energy matters. Miranda joined the faculty in 2022 to start the new clinic after over five years serving as the vice president of energy policy and lead energy counsel at the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC), where she led the energy team’s campaigns and initiatives to promote and advance clean energy and energy efficiency, mitigate climate change, and secure stronger public health safeguards for Ohioans. Miranda was lead counsel in all energy litigation matters, and represented the OEC, as well as other non-profits, at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the Ohio Power Siting Board, and courts throughout the State of Ohio. Prior to that, Miranda was in private practice for several years where she focused on litigation, natural gas utility issues, toxic torts, False Claims Act litigation, and utility-scale wind farm permitting. Miranda holds a BA in Law, Letters, & Society from The University of Chicago (2006), and a JD from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law (2010), where she was the editor-in-chief of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. Miranda is admitted to practice in Ohio, as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio.

Haley Shoemaker, MS, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Columbiana and Mahoning Counties, Ohio State University Extension

As an extension educator, Haley Shoemaker coordinates programming and education opportunities for livestock and crop producers in Mahoning and Columbiana County. In response to the East Palestine train derailment crisis, Shoemaker joined a College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Crisis Rapid Response Team to deliver expert recommendations on research and scientific methods and collaborate with local, state, and federal agencies. In addition to co-leading a protocol to sample plant tissue for contaminants, Shoemaker served as a first responder and presence in public meetings, served as a community liaison supporting public forums, and provided key community insights for a multi-state university consortium. In 2023, the CFAES East Palestine Response Team received the Spirit of the Land Grant Award, embodying the essence of the Land Grant mission of Ohio State University. Shoemaker received the 2024 Community Engagement Practitioner Award from The Ohio State University’s Office of Outreach and Engagement.

Zhiyong Xia, PhD, senior technical director, PFAS Practice, GHD

Dr. Zhiyong Xia currently serves as the senior technical director and PFAS practice technical leader for GHD. He has extensive experience in PFAS management (PFAS capture, PFAS destruction, PFAS testing and evaluation, and fate and transport), water purification (heavy metals and microbes and microplastics removal), atmospheric water harvesting, and novel materials. Prior to joining GHD, Dr. Xia was the chief scientist at Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory where his PFAS and water work had won the lab’s Invention of the Year Award three times (2022, 2021 and 2015). Dr. Xia has 19 US patents related to PFAS, water, and novel polymers. He is an author of more than 100 technical publications. Dr. Xia holds an adjunct professorship at Johns Hopkins University -Whiting School of Engineering. Dr. Xia received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.

Additional Information 

We strive to host events that are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you have a disability and require accommodations to fully participate in this activity, please reach out to Hallie Stelzle, EPN Program Assistant (stelzle.2@osu.edu). Requests made five business days in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access. However, we will make every effort to meet requests made after this time frame. You will be contacted by someone from our staff to discuss your specific needs. 

Masks are optional for all event attendees at this event, in accordance with Ohio State’s Safe and Healthy Protocols as of this date. In-person attendees will be expected to follow Ohio State protocols regarding the prevention of COVID-19 transmission. More health and safety information available on this Personal Safety Practices page.