IU McKinney School of Law Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Symposium
In cooperation with: IU Environmental Law Society, Environmental Law Forum & Environmental Law Alumni
Indiana Rivers: Water Access, Water Quality & Water's Future
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
February 28, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (reception to follow). 6.0 General CLE including 1.0 Ethics
“A river is more than an amenity—it is a treasure that offers a necessity of life that must be rationed among those who have the power over it."
- Former US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Indiana’s Rivers are indeed a treasure as well as a resource that the state is bound to protect and conserve. Through a complex system of laws and regulations at the state and federal level, the rivers that flow through the state and define some of its borders are monitored, protected, assessed, and conserved and activities on their shores, and in their watersheds, that can affect water quality are likewise monitored and regulated. Recent events in West Virginia – where over 300,000 people lost access to basic drinking water for over a week following a chemical release into the Elk River – demonstrate that even the most complex and carefully-managed regulatory system can still fail. And recent experience in Indiana – where almost two-thirds of state waters that have been assessed for quality have been designated as “impaired” under the Clean Water Act – shows that more can be done.
IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law’s Seventh Annual Spring Environmental Symposium will focus on these challenges and engage experts and leaders, in a discussion of the state of Indiana’s riverways and watersheds, and the scope of the current regulatory framework. Expert panelists will:
Discuss the state of water access and water quality law and challenges in Indiana
Examine recent efforts to protect water quality affected by coal combustion
Assess measures that exist to prevent an Elk River-type disaster in Indiana
Explore water access and water quality as an Environmental Justice Concern
Keynote Speaker Carol Comer, General Counsel for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), will be joined by experts and leaders including the Co-Director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights in New Orleans, LA, the Managing Principal of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., in Washington, DC, the Water & Ag Policy Director for Hoosier Environmental Council, the Conservation Director of Sierra Club’s Hoosier Chapter, the Executive Director of the Conservation Law Center in Bloomington, and speakers from the Indiana House of Representatives, the Indiana Senate, Earthjustice, Prairie Rivers Network, the US Attorney’s Office, the Office of Utility Consumer
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