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Home > BizTimes Daily > Current Headlines > September 19, 2007
Published September 19, 2007 - BizTimes Daily
Midwest Environmental Advocates, Wisconsin's first and only
nonprofit environmental law center, has expanded its capacity to
promote environmental justice in Wisconsin by opening a Milwaukee
office and hiring a new executive director.
"We're very excited that this day has come," said founder Melissa
Scanlan. "Since opening our doors in 1999, Midwest Environmental
Advocates has actively engaged communities across Wisconsin
and has achieved victories for clean air and water, but
with our new office, we'll be able to increase our work with low-income
communities that are living with greater environmental degradation."
After founding and serving as the executive director of Midwest
Environmental Advocates for eight years, Scanlan has moved her family
to Milwaukee to open Midwest Environmental Advocates' new office
at 1845 N. Farwell Ave.
Scanlan now serves as senior counsel for the organization, which has
hired Karen Schapiro, another experienced environmental lawyer, as its
new executive director.
Schapiro comes to Midwest Environmental Advocates from the law firm of
DeWitt Ross & Stevens, S.C., where she was a partner in the
environmental practice group.
Earlier in her career, Schapiro served as an air enforcement attorney
at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., where
she prosecuted violations of the Clean Air Act around the country and
also worked on regulation and policy developments.
Schapiro is a recipient of the EPA's Bronze Medal of Commendation for
her role in negotiating emission reductions from more than 40 "high
risk" sources of air toxics. While in Washington, D.C., she also served
as a special assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.
"I'm honored to assume the role of executive director, and I'm looking
forward to working to carry forward our mission of promoting
environmental justice in the Western Great Lakes Region," Schapiro said.
Midwest Environmental Advocates has been at the forefront of the effort
to gain approval of the Great Lakes Compact to protect the waters of
the Great Lakes.
