FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1995 (202) 616-2771 TDD (202) 514-1888 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FILLS THREE LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today filled leadership positions in two sections of its Environment and Natural Resources Division. Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division, appointed Joel Gross and Eileen Sobeck as section chiefs, and Bruce Gelber as principal deputy section chief. Gross will become chief of the Environment Enforcement Section. A deputy section chief since 1992, Mr. Gross has also been an assistant section chief and a trial attorney in the Environment Enforcement Section. A graduate of New York University Law School, Gross also holds a Master's Degree in Mathematics, from Yeshiva University. A recognized expert in environmental bankruptcy law, he first came to the Department in 1983, from private practices in New York and Washington. Gelber will be the principal deputy chief of the Environment Enforcement Section. He joined the Department in 1985, rising through the ranks to become an assistant chief and then deputy section chief in 1992. He was general counsel for the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing from 1978-1985. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Cornell University, Mr. Gelber has clerked for the New Jersey Supreme Court, and worked in private practice in Washington, D.C. Sobeck becomes the new chief of the Wildlife and Marine Resources Section. Previously an assistant chief of the section, Ms. Sobeck began her career in public service in the Office of the General Counsel at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she served from 1979-1984. She began her legal career as Visiting Fellow at the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles. A graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School, Sobeck joined the Department of Justice in 1984. (MORE) The Environment and Natural Resources Division is responsible for enforcing the nation's civil and criminal environmental laws in order to protect its citizens' health and environment. It represents the United States in all matters concerning the protection, use and development of the nation's natural resources and public lands, wildlife protection, Indian rights and claims, the acquisition of federal property and the clean up of hazardous waste sites. ### 95-602