The Atlanta Lawyer June/July 2016 | Page 43

SECTION UPDATE ENVIRONMENTAL & TOXIC TORT By Kimberley Hale Kazmarek Mowrey Cloud Laseter LLP [email protected] The Environmental and Toxic Tort Section enjoyed two major events in late spring and are currently planning more social and CLE events for the summer and fall. We co-hosted a CLE breakfast with the Construction Section in late April to discuss the new Clean Water Act Rule recently finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency. This new rule defined “waters of the United States” for purposes of the federal Clean Water Act and has generated a great deal of interest and controversy. The lively discussion included three great speakers, Martin Shelton of Weissman, Nowak, Curry & Wilco, Megan Hinkle of Southern Environmental Law Center, and Justin Wong of Troutman Sanders. In May, several of our members joined Trees Atlanta to help weed, mulch, and water young trees in neighborhoods in the West End area of Atlanta. Trees Atlanta was established in 1985 and is dedicated to addressing Atlanta’s tree loss and creating more green space. We learned a lot from the fantastic Trees Atlanta crew and it was a wonderful way to spend time on a Saturday morning getting to know our colleagues better. 43 June/July 2016 Later this summer, we will host our annual summer social. We look forward to seeing all of our section members there and introducing our 2016-2017 Board of Directors: Kimberley Hale, Chair Randy Butterfield, Vice-Chair/Chair Elect Jennifer Pennington, Secretary Christopher Bowers, Treasurer Rich Glaze, Immediate Past Chair Members-at-Large: Jonathan Wells Elizabeth Gray Nunez Stephen McCullers