Bill Pentelovitch, Margo Brownell, and Evan Nelson Named 2023 Attorneys of the Year for Pro Bono Efforts to Protect Water Quality Near the BWCA

Maslon is pleased and proud to announce that attorneys Bill Pentelovitch, Margo Brownell, and Evan Nelson have been named 2023 Attorneys of the Year for pro bono work by Minnesota Lawyer. The three were part of a team recognized for their representation of environmental groups fighting to protect water quality near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeast Minnesota. Maslon’s clients were the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), the Center for Biological Diversity, and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness (FBWW).

The groups, along with WaterLegacy and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, have challenged a copper-sulfide mine project in the Lake Superior watershed near the Boundary Waters. In August 2023, they celebrated a victory: The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) violated state law in suppressing concerns of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about PolyMet’s water permit.

The court concluded that the MPCA’s decision to issue its permit "was arbitrary and capricious due to the presence of several danger signals suggesting the agency did not adequately consider whether the NorthMet project has the reasonable potential to cause or contribute to an exceedance of water quality standards within the Lake Superior watershed…" The court also sent the permit back to the Pollution Control Agency "to remedy the procedural irregularities and resulting deficiencies in the administrative record."

Other attorneys recognized with the award include:

• Joy Anderson, Ann Cohen, and Jay Eidsness of MCEA, representing MCEA, FBWW and the Center for Biological Diversity
• Paula Maccabee of Just Change Law Offices, representing WaterLegacy
• Kevin Reuther of MCEA

To read more, go to Minnesota Lawyer: 2023 Attorneys of the Year.