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SW: Shoreham
{{WaterEnergy}}'''Kathy Robb''' is a partner on resources, regulatory & environmental law at the [[Hunton & Williams]] firm in New York, and director of the [[Water Policy Institute]], a [[think tank]] housed at the law firmand chaired by [[Christine Todd Whitman]]. <ref>"[http://www.hunton.com/Resources/Sites/general.aspx?id=601 Water Policy Institute: Leadership]," Hunton & Williams website, accessed June 2008.</ref> <ref name="PR">Press release, "[http://www.hunton.com/news/news.aspx?tab=0003&gen_H4ID=15305 Water Industry Leaders Launch Water Policy Institute to Address Current Challenges: Christine Todd Whitman to serve as chair; Hunton & Williams lawyer as director]," Hunton & Williams, June 4, 2008.</ref>
According to her profile on the law firm's website, Robb "focuses exclusively on energy, environmental and administrative law." Her clients include "developers, electric utilities, investors, chemical manufacturers, and paper mills." She co-founded the [[Women's Network for a Sustainable Future]] and is on the [[Environmental Law Institute]]'s board of directors. <ref>"[http://www.hunton.com/bios/bio.aspx?id=15217&tab=0013 Kathy Robb]," Hunton & Williams website, accessed February 2009.</ref>
In an interview, Robb said that "[[Climate change]] is likely to be a major topic" of the Water Policy Institute. "Other topics will include the intersection of water quality and quantity; desalination; new technology; agriculture; allocation of water; and infrastructure." <ref>"New water institute seeks to convene diverse voices," Clean Water Report, June 18, 2008.</ref>
"Founding members include [[GEWater]] Water, [[BP]] and the [[Central Arizona Water Conservation District]]. Companies are likely to be among the chief members initially, but I am hopeful to attract a wide range of constituencies. The goal is to provide a forum for cross-pollination among various stakeholders." <ref>"[http://www.hunton.com/bios/news.aspx?id=15217&gen_H4ID=15428 Hunton & Williams LLP Partner Robb Interviewed on Water Policy Institute by Clean Water Report]," Hunton & Williams website, July 18, 2008.</ref>
In another interview, Robb said the Institute is interested in issues of water "scarcity and pricing and ... how you can encourage people to conserve," "recycling and reclamation," "the interconnection between energy and water," and "the intersection increasingly of water quality and water quantity issues." <ref>Carlos David Mogollon, "[http://ww.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=338891&p=41 Q&A: An Interview with Water Policy Institute Co-Founder Kathy Robb]," PennWell Water Group / ''Water Utility Management'', September / October 2008.</ref>
The court ruled "that the [[Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006]] exempted a water canal improvement project from federal environmental laws," because the 2006 legislation directed the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to carry out, "without delay," a project to replace an unlined portion of the [[All-American Canal]] to avoid water seepage, "notwithstanding any other provision of law." California and surrounding U.S. states were eager to have the lining project proceed, so they could access the water seeping through the unlined canal. The Consejo de Desarrollo Economico de Mexicali, a Mexican community group, and environmental groups argued that "the project's environmental impact statement was inadequate," and that lining the canal "would dry up groundwater sources that serve farms and wetlands south of the border." <ref>"Water transfers, canal lining project advance with rulings," California Planning & Development Report, August 1, 2007.</ref>
===Other legal work===
"In Kathy's early years at [Hunton & Williams], she worked with another one of her mentors, the firm's then managing partner [[Taylor Reveley]] ... on licensing a nuclear power plant on Long Island," according to a profile of Robb. <ref>Erin Abrams, "[http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2008/08/25/voice-of-experience-kathy-robb-partner-hunton-williams/ Voice of Experience: Kathy Robb, Partner, Hunton & Williams]," The Glass Hammer, August 25, 2008.</ref> Presumably, this refers to the [[Long Island Lighting Company]]'s [[Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant]]. <ref>"[http://www.hunton.com/practices/practice_detail.aspx?gr_h4id=1062 Practices: energy and infrastructure]," Hunton & Williams website, accessed February 2009.</ref> "By the time Shoreham was fully decommissioned on Oct. 12, 1994, its $6 billion price tag -- about 85 times higher than the original estimate -- had nearly wrecked the regional economy by saddling Long Island with some of the highest electric rates in the nation," according to ''Newsday''. <ref>Dan Fagin, "[http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs9shore,0,563942.story Lights Out at Shoreham: Anti-nuclear activism spurs the closing of a new $6 billion plant]," ''Newsday'', undated, accessed February 2009.</ref>
==Articles and resources==
===Related SourceWatch articles===
* [[Central Arizona Water Conservation District]]
* [[Christine Todd Whitman]]
* [[GE Water & Process Technologies]]
* [[Hunton & Williams]]
* [[Water Policy Institute]]
