Regional Office

Florida Office

Tetra Images / Getty Images

111 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 681-0031

4500 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 201
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 440-5432

floffice@earthjustice.org

Media Inquiries

Julie Hauserman
Public Affairs and Communications Strategist
(850) 273-2898
jhauserman@earthjustice.org

Legal Assistance Inquiries

Contacto de Prensa

Robert Valencia
Estratega de Comunicaciones y Asuntos Públicos Hispanos/Latinos
rvalencia@earthjustice.org
(212) 845-7376

Who We Are

The Florida regional office wields the power of the law to protect our waterways and biodiversity, promote a just and reliable transition to clean energy, and defend communities disproportionately burdened by pollution. The Florida regional office works through partnership to hold government accountable and the public informed and engaged on the most pressing environmental issues of our time. See bar admissions for our attorneys.

Laura Beatriz ArroyoSenior Attorney

Dominique BurkhardtSenior Attorney

Alisa CoeDeputy Managing Attorney

Ana CorreaLitigation Paralegal

Tania GalloniManaging Attorney

Briana KleinerSenior Litigation Assistant

Jordan LuebkemannSenior Associate Attorney

Bonnie MalloySenior Attorney

Bradley MarshallSenior Attorney

Christina ReichertSenior Attorney

Emma RimmerLitigation Assistant / Legal Practice Assistant

Kristen StandridgeLegal Practice Manager

Lorena Vélez MirandaAssociate Attorney

Our Impact

Protecting our Waterways and Wildlife

  • The exceptionally biodiverse Apalachicola River, Floodplain, and Bay face devastation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ restriction of freshwater flows from upstream dams and reservoirs.  Earthjustice represents National Wildlife Federation, Florida Wildlife Federation, and Apalachicola Riverkeeper in a challenge to the Corps’ operations.
  • Florida’s vast wetlands are essential to wildlife, hurricane resilience and drinking water.  In 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorized Florida to permit dredging and filling of wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act by sidestepping essential federal protections.  Other states have shown interest in this “model,” raising the stakes nationally. Earthjustice has challenged EPA’s action in Washington, D.C., representing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Defenders of Wildlife, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper, Sierra Club, and St. Johns Riverkeeper.
  • Vehicle strikes are the leading cause of death for the critically endangered Florida panther.  As roads are widened for burgeoning development, rigorous environmental protection is needed more than ever.  But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is failing to limit how many panthers may be killed before the government must reassess projects.  Earthjustice is suing on behalf of Sierra Club and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida (ECOSWF).
  • Manatees in Florida are dying at high rates as water pollution kills their main food source.  Florida has repeatedly failed to rein in the sources of this pollution.  Representing Save the Manatee Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and CBD, Earthjustice is suing EPA for failing to step in.

Promoting a Just and Reliable Transition to Clean Energy

The Sunshine State should be leading the way toward a clean and equitable energy system, but instead is bowing to powerful utility interests seeking ever-higher profits at the expense of low-income communities and communities of color.

  • Earthjustice is pushing back against utility-driven faux “community solar” programs that make for good PR but are designed to benefit mostly the utilities and their largest customers while undermining a true transition to solar energy.  On behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida (LULAC), Earthjustice challenged the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) approval of one such program at the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled 6 to 1 that the PSC had not adequately explained the approval.
  • On behalf of Florida Rising, LULAC, and ECOSWF, Earthjustice is also challenging Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL) recent effort to expand its own faux “community solar” program through a settlement with friendly parties that gives the utility the largest rate increase in Florida history to subsidize FPL’s largest customers.
  • Earthjustice continues to hold the line on energy efficiency, the cheapest and easiest way to reduce electric bills and greenhouse gas emissions.  Having defeated FPL’s plan to adopt zero energy efficiency and demand-side management goals, Earthjustice continues to fight to reform the goal-setting process in order to incentivize energy efficiency.

Standing With Communities Burdened by Pollution

Communities of color and low-income communities disproportionately bear the burdens of pollution harms.  Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has failed to ensure non-discrimination in its permitting programs as required under federal law.

Supporting A Clean Energy Future in Puerto Rico

More than 1.1 million Puerto Ricans reside in Florida, making it the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora.  Puerto Rico is at the frontline of climate change, extreme weather, and air pollution.  Nearly half the population lives under the poverty line.

  • In 2017, Hurricane Maria set off a ten-month blackout — the longest in U.S. history — resulting in the unprecedented loss of 3,000 lives.  This avoidable tragedy demonstrated the life and death consequences of public access to electricity.
  • In 2019, Earthjustice challenged the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) 20-year energy plan, which largely recreated the same old system, on behalf of Alliance for Renewable Energy Now.  The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau denied plans for new LNG terminals and gas conversions, ordered an aggressive renewables procurement plan, embraced the distributed solar and storage model, and ordered the creation of energy efficiency programs.
  • In 2020, the Energy Bureau began a proceeding to set performance metrics for LUMA Energy, the private company now in charge of energy in Puerto Rico. Earthjustice is working with partners and clients to make sure that performance metrics ensure a reliable energy system prioritizing distributed rooftop solar over a continued dependency on fossil fuels.
  • With almost 90% of food on the island being imported, Earthjustice is supporting local groups opposing large-scale industrial solar projects on prime agricultural land or preserves that are essential to food security.  Industrial solar farms have long-term impacts on soil and are unreliable in Puerto Rico, because they rely on vulnerable transmission lines across densely-forested areas.
  • AES-Puerto Rico is the most polluting plant in Puerto Rico and the source of coal ash contamination that threatens public health.  Earthjustice is working toward the closure and cleanup of the plant.

Recent News
March 8, 2024 In the News: Fort Myers News-Press

Wetlands permitting battle continues, state expected to appeal federal ruling

Bonnie Malloy, Attorney, Florida Office: “The trigger for (the state) to file an appeal hasn’t happened yet because the court hasn’t rendered a final judgment yet. This is something developers sought because they could get permits quicker than when they go through the (U.S. Army) Corps process, but there were several illegal shortcuts they took…

February 23, 2024 In the News: Politico

Permitting ‘Chaos’: Florida DEP to seek stay of judge’s wetlands ruling

Tania Galloni, Managing Attorney, Florida Office: “The judge got it right. There’s a lot of reasons this program is illegal.”

February 22, 2024 In the News: Florida Phoenix

Court ruling stops Florida’s sloppy wetlands permitting, saves panthers

Tania Galloni, Managing Attorney, Florida Office: “’It’s hard’ is NOT a reason to not comply with federal law.”

Features