This month, ROW highlights Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC), a state-wide environmental advocacy organization working to make Indiana a better place to live, breath, work, and play. HEC has been a long-time collective partner and Environmental Health Senior Associate Paula Brooks has recently been involved along Pleasant Run Waterway.
In Fall of 2019, Pleasant Run neighbors advocated for the Stream Protection Corridor along the waterway at the Community Justice Campus (CJC) site in Twin Aire and formed People for Pleasant Run. HEC and Brooks helped the community respond to waterway concerns, understand zoning and local government processes. and to know how best to coordinate their efforts. Their work succeeded in a productive compromise with the City that includes a slight redesign and mitigation measures.
HEC, a group ROW works with through the Partners for the White River initiative, actively works to advocate for public health and Indiana’s environment at the Statehouse and provides important education and resources for Indiana residents to engage in the process. Waterway issues like preventing and penalizing toxic spills, drinking water quality in schools, and stormwater infrastructure are only a few of the policy areas they monitor. Brooks educated attendees on these issues at last month’s In the Know with ROW: Become a Water Advocate. Learn more by visiting HEC’s Bill Watch 2020 page.
ROW greatly appreciates Hoosier Environmental Council for its advocacy on behalf of Indiana’s waterways and assistance to our waterway communities!