If you are concerned about new polluters coming to your region, then environmental permitting is something you should know about – and you’re invited to the second webinar in a series with Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services.

This presentation and Q&A is offered by Megan Hunter Esq, who is experienced in permitting under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts and is currently lead counsel on the appeal of the PTTG Ethane Cracker in Dilles Bottom, Ohio (full bio below). We’re excited that she’ll be sharing her experience and wisdom with the network!

Notes from the presentation:

• Download : Taking-Control-of-the-Permiting-Process-073119
• An example of a website providing links to public notices by district. Thanks Scott for sharing this in the webinar chat. https://wetlanddata.healthygulf.org/

What you’ll get from this webinar presentation:

• An in depth understanding of the environmental permitting process and examples of how it can protect you.
• How to gather the necessary information (acquiring permit documents, expert reports, and baseline monitoring) to make informed decisions for your community regarding your exposure to pollution.
• How to use that information through public participation to put your protective permitting measures in place.

When it comes to Oil & Gas developments, local communities have been assuming risk that they have not agreed to and would never agree to – and the situation is only getting worse.

Polluters are effectively planning these communities’ future. More often than not, industry has experienced legal counsel to help them navigate the regulatory process. This gives them the upper hand in approving projects before the public has a chance to organize.

How can residents participate in deciding the pollution risks we’re being asked to bear?

Fair Shake Legal Collective are lawyers that go beyond the courtroom to give community leaders the tools they need to become equal players in the decisions about their health and future – and that’s exactly what this webinar is about.

Community strength against risk comes from knowledge and action. Understanding the laws in place within your local government is the first step to taking your communities back and defending your environment.

About the presenter :

As a Staff Attorney and Outreach Director at Fair Shake and at her own firm Hunter & Hunter LLC, Megan has represented community groups, nonprofit organizations, and individuals on a host of environmental matters, including citizen suits, administrative appeals, and public records disputes.  She has represented clients before Ohio’s Environmental Review Appeals Commission, Ohio’s Oil and Gas Commission, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and Ohio’s appellate and common pleas courts.

Megan earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, and Master of Environmental Law and Policy, magna cum laude from Vermont Law School, where she also served as Senior Managing Editor for the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Megan holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Policy from Barnard College.  She is admitted to practice in Ohio, New York, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Megan loves spending time with her rambunctious children, adventures outdoors, art, music, dance, and time at the ocean.  She’s also a certified yoga instructor and hopes to one day be a licensed falconer (in the meantime, she settles for bird watching and tromping around in the wilderness).

About these webinars:

These webinars are all about giving you a better understanding of environmental law, from local to federal, and to encourage more effective public participation. To make sure you hear about future webinars with Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, join the network today.

There are a number of government organizations tasked with protecting you and your environment, but sometimes the most effective approach is arming yourself with knowledge and taking matters into your own hands.

Programs like this cannot happen without your support. Contributions from people like you allow Fair Shake to provide access to justice for people of modest means and go beyond the courtroom to give community leaders tools to defend their environment before harm occurs.