Assistant AG Jedele to lead R.I. CLF

By Ted Nesi
PBN Web Editor

PROVIDENCE – The Conservation Law Foundation today named a Rhode Island special assistant attorney general as the new director of its Rhode Island office after the U.S. Senate confirmed its current chief, Cynthia Giles, to a top job at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Giles will be replaced at CLF by Tricia O’Hare Jedele, who since 1999 has served as a special assistant attorney general in the environmental unit of the R.I. Attorney General’s office, the organization said. Jedele was appointed the state’s environmental advocate by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch in 2004 after the position was created by the General Assembly, according to her biography.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Tricia to CLF,” said John Kassel, president of CLF. “Her experience and stature within the Rhode Island legal community, as well as her passion for and commitment to CLF’s mission, will help us deliver the results that CLF’s supporters want to see, and the planet needs, in Rhode Island and throughout the region.”

Giles, who was nominated by President Obama in March, will now become an assistant administrator of the EPA and head its Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. She leaves her position at CLF after four years leading the environmental group’s efforts in the state, which included work on climate change and pollution reduction.

“It’s with great pride and excitement that we announce Cynthia’s confirmation,” Bill Coleman, CEO of CLF Ventures, the foundation’s nonprofit affiliate. “Cynthia’s leadership has been a tremendous asset to CLF, and we will greatly miss her presence, integrity and tenacity, but wish her the best in this exciting endeavor on the national stage.”

Jedle graduated cum laude from Providence College, where she received a bachelor’s in political science and was a Reed scholar. She earned her law degree at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., where she was vice president of the Environmental Law Society and a staff member of the Environmental Law Journal, according to her biography.

In 2003, Jedele led a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy for contamination at Quonset Point that resulted in a $1.4 million payment to Rhode Island by the Navy to fund shellfish and drinking water projects. She also was involved in a lawsuit that led to cleanup efforts at the Brayton Point power plant.

“Trish Jedele’s passion for protecting our environment has made her very effective in litigating and negotiating complex cases for our state,” Lynch said in a statement.

“In her years as Rhode Island’s Environmental Advocate, and as one of my trusted attorneys, Trish has tackled and made great progress on dozens of challenging issues confronting our state, our country, and, truly, our well being,” the attorney general continued. “Her knowledge and tenacity have helped position Rhode Island as a national leader on slowing the pace of climate change, protecting landmark laws such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and holding the federal government accountable for repairing ecological damages done long ago and continuing into the present.”

“I congratulate Trish for being named to this prestigious position and look forward to working with her as we build on the progress we’ve made together,” Lynch said.

Additional information on the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island advocacy center is available at CLF.org.