2009 Ceremony Summary
From the June 18, 2009 Ceremony held in Arlington, VA
About the National Notable Achievement Awards
The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 National Notable Achievement Awards Ceremony was held in Arlington, Virginia, on the afternoon of June 18, 2009. More than 150 EPA staff members, family members, and friends attended the ceremony. Each year this ceremony recognizes exemplary accomplishments on the front lines of EPA’s waste management and emergency response programs. The Superfund National Notable Achievement Awards were first created in 1989 to recognize the special achievements of on-scene coordinators, remedial project managers, community involvement coordinators, and others. These awards have been joined by awards in Brownfields, the Center for Program Analysis, Emergency Management, Environmental Justice, Federal Facilities Response, Land Revitalization, Superfund Enforcement, RCRA Corrective Action, Regional Science, Resource Conservation Challenge, Superfund Excellence in Community Involvement, and Underground Storage Tanks.
This year, 42 individual and group awards in 40 categories were chosen from 183 nominations, and given to 191 individuals, four community organizations, and one state agency. Of the awards, 22 went to individuals, and 20 went to teams. The award plaques were procured from Rivanna Natural Designs, a woman-owned small business in Charlottesville, Virginia, that created the environmentally responsible plaques entirely from 100 percent recycled materials.
Master of Ceremonies Jim Woolford, Director of the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, opened the ceremony by noting the remarkable achievements of his EPA colleagues and friends. He also thanked everyone for their patience with the unexpected postponement of the ceremony, which was originally scheduled for May 20. This year’s ceremony marked the 20th anniversary of the awards. An event that began as a Superfund ceremony has grown into a significant and sizable event for all of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), he said. The awards recognize the incredible work being conducted in the regions and honor public service that has had an impact on communities. The award winners have earned a sense of pride for themselves and the Agency, he said, and EPA could not accomplish its mission without them.
Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator of OSWER, praised the OSWER staff as among the best at EPA. As an engineer and a lawyer, he said he understood the implications of the decisions staff members make, and praised them as the cream of the crop. As an example of the award-winners’ achievements, he praised the Region 9 Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Cleanup and Redevelopment Team in Nevada (Outstanding Brownfields Teamwork Award), which cleaned up an Indian-owned brownfield site and created new jobs. He cited the Region 3 team for Web-Based Tracking of Institutional Controls and Engineering Controls (RCRA Corrective Action Outstanding Use of Innovative Approaches Team Award), which created a tracking system that will be a useful tool for the long term. He also mentioned the Region 2 UST Compliance Team (Underground Storage Tanks Compliance Award), which was responsible for a third of all EPA underground storage tank compliance inspections and seven percent of all EPA inspections.
Mr. Stanislaus said that the best policy comes from the regional level. Looking to the future, he said, the Agency needs energy and dedication to bring this experience to policymaking. To involve stakeholders in policymaking, there must be an emphasis on accountability and increased transparency.
Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, noted that the awards ceremony addresses the priorities of the Agency. The impressive results of the Superfund enforcement staff included 42 settlements totaling $79 million. She congratulated Superfund Enforcement Award winners Tanya Floyd (Legal Enforcer Award), Melissa Waters (Technical Enforcer Award), the Casmalia Financial Management Team (Financial Management Team Award), and the Shpack Superfund Site Team (Enforcement Team Award), saying that their accomplishments were a great statement of site coordination and teamwork.
Presentation of Awards
Sandra Connors, Deputy Director of the Office of Site Remediation Enforcement, welcomed the opportunity to acknowledge how well the OSWER programs work together and to respect the accomplishments they have achieved. She presented four Superfund Enforcement Awards. She first honored Tanya Floyd of Region 4, who was not present, with the Legal Enforcer Award for her work as the lead Region 4 attorney on 16 cases and a Clean Water Act case containing 98 construction sites. One of her settlement agreements, at the B&B Manufacturing site, resulted in a 100 percent recovery of EPA’s costs. Ms. Connors presented the Technical Enforcer Award to Melissa Waters of Region 4, who has been an invaluable member of the enforcement teams that have reached landmark agreements at several Superfund sites, including the Carolina Transformer Site, Ecusta Mill Site, and Anniston Lead and PCB Sites. She currently manages a heavy workload of more than 30 sites, many of which are complex. The Financial Management Team Award went to the Casmalia Financial Management Team of Region 9: Russell Mechem, Karen Goldberg, and Marie Rongone, who were not present. Ms. Connors pointed out that a new focus of the Superfund Program is financial issues, such as bankruptcies, and that the Casmalia Team had an innovative approach to cost management, reporting, and accounting for PRP-led work that is now considered a best practice. She presented the Enforcement Team Award to Ann Gardner and Diane Boudrot on behalf of the Shpack Superfund Site Team of Region 1. Other team members, who were not present, were Melissa Taylor, Audrey Zucker, Barbara O’Toole, James Israel, Joyce Salvo, and Bill Hanscom (retired) of Region 1; Deanna Chang and Matthew Oakes of the U.S. Department of Justice; and Joseph McInterny and Tim Beauchemin of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At one of Region 1’s most legally thorny sites, the team completed an outstanding settlement that secures the $29 million cleanup and recovers about $3 million in future oversight costs.
Matt Hale, Director of the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, thanked the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation for taking over the organization of the Awards Ceremony, which he said honors the work of the regions and states to implement EPA’s work in the field. He presented seven RCRA Corrective Action Awards, starting with the Individual Award for Outstanding Use of Innovative Approaches to Ernest Waterman of Region 1, who was not present. Mr. Waterman works closely with the states in his region, especially Connecticut, to achieve record goals and innovative approaches that have led to great success. The Team Award for Outstanding Use of Innovative Approaches went to Region 3’s team for Web-Based Tracking of Institutional Controls and Engineering Controls: Joel Hennessy and Michael Jacobi, who were not present. Mr. Hale praised this system as a wonderfully innovative tool to map and maintain controls. He presented the Individual Award for Outstanding Efforts to Support State or Tribal RCRA Programs to Scott Ellinger of Region 6, who developed a state-of-the-art strategy to address contamination at the Sparta regional aquifer in Arkansas. His efforts supported and advanced the state’s position in dealing with RCRA facilities, and moved a complex site from being poorly understood to well evaluated.
Mr. Hale presented Kenneth S. Bardo of Region 5 with the Individual Award for Outstanding Use of Redevelopment Potential. Mr. Bardo manages several complex sites, including three sites where he incorporated remediation into present use and redevelopment, and kept all enforcement measures in place. Mr. Hale cited his work as an example of what should be achieved at all RCRA sites. The award for Outstanding Use of Redevelopment Potential/EPA and State or Tribal Team went to Region 3’s GM Team, represented at the ceremony by Denis Zielinski of Region 3 and Harold Dye of the Maryland Department of the Environment. Other team members, who were not present, were Barbara Brown, James Carroll, Ed Hammerberg, Mark Mank, Chau Nguyen, Luke Wisniewski, and Dr. Amin Yazdanian, all of the Maryland Department of the Environment. The team’s innovative approach allowed the cleanup of the 182-acre GM property in Baltimore and its quick return to productive reuse. Mr. Hale presented the Individual Award for Outstanding Use of Innovative Approaches to Advance the PCB Disposal and Cleanup Program to Michelle Kaysen-Majack of Region 5, who was the project manager for a PCB spill in Indiana that included contamination in the backyards of residences. Of the 40 yards sampled, 27 had PCB contamination, and 50 percent of homes have been remediated. Throughout this process, Ms. Kaysen-Majack was sensitive to the community and conducted an excellent example of a PCB cleanup. The Team Award for Outstanding Use of Innovative Approaches to Advance the PCB Disposal and Cleanup Program went to the Metropolitan Water District PCB Cleanup Team of Region 9: Arlene Kabei, Steve Armann, Carmen Santos, Patrick Wilson, and Katherine Baylor, who were not present. Within three months of the team taking over a PCB project at the Joseph Jensen Water Treatment Plant, the region had approved a cleanup plan, which proceeded on an expedited schedule.
Mr. Hale also announced three Resource Conservation Challenge Awards, starting with a presentation to Individual Award winner Joseph Malki of Region 2. He praised Mr. Malki as a “national star” of the National Partnership for Environmental Priorities, which is EPA’s primary tool for implementing its Waste Minimization National Plan to eliminate or reduce toxic chemicals. Region 2 has been very active in the partnership, and its reduction of priority chemicals represented close to 60 percent of the national total. The Resource Conservation Challenge (SC3) Team Award was presented to Daniel Gallo, who represented the Schools Chemical Cleanup Campaign Team of Region 3. Other team members, who were not present, were Sharon Kenny of Region 3 and Glenn Mitzel of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Under the team’s statewide program, almost 6,000 pounds of chemicals have been removed from 10 schools. Mr. Hale presented the State Program Award to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Office of Environmental Management, Regional Recycling Transfer Hub Program. Accepting the award on the team’s behalf were Steve Thompson of the Curbside Value Partnership, Randy Hartmann of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and David Dunning of Shaw Industries. Other team members who were not present were Jay Bassett of Region 4, LuAnn Chambers of SP Recycling and Georgia Recycling Coalition President, and Joe Bill Faith of Shaw Industries. The team created an innovative way to make recycling affordable in rural communities with regional hub facilities.
Mr. Woolford presented seven Superfund Awards. He honored Mary Logan of Region 5, who was not present, with the Remedial Project Manager Award, praising her as the “go-to” person for challenging projects, and a natural leader and skilled communicator. The Site Assessment Manager Award went to Jamie Bernard-Drakey of Region 7, who was not present. Her efforts have helped Region 7 have one of the lowest average costs per site assessment, and she has increased external acceptance of EPA’s activities. Mr. Woolford presented the Community Involvement Coordinator Award to Jennifer Lane of Region 8, praising her exemplary work advocating for more resources for public participation and responsiveness to community concerns. Her effective community involvement strategies embody transparency, he said. The Leader/Mentor Award went to James Saric of Region 5, who was not present, for his extraordinary ability to develop an effective team at the Kalamazoo River Site. He has guided the team through the site cleanup, which is now moving quickly. Mr. Woolford presented the Outstanding Achievement Award to George Zachos of Region 2, who is a founding member of the Regional Decision Team and a 30-year regional liaison. As the region’s Public Liaison, he had a 100 percent response record with information requests in 2008, and is an invaluable asset to the Superfund program.
Two Superfund Team Awards were among the seven presented. Mr. Woolford presented the first to Denise Jordan-Izaguirre on behalf of the Southeast Missouri Lead Sites (SEMO) Cleanup Team of Region 7. Other team members, who were not present, were Kenneth Buchholz, Scott Hayes, Gene Gunn, Cheryle Micinski, Steven Sanders, Dana Skelley, Don Toensing, Jim Aycock, Jeff Weatherford, Heath Smith, Ron King, Jamie Bernard-Drakey, Jim Silver, Bruce Morrison, Jason Gunter, Emily Wheeler, Dennis Stinson, Bob Hinkson, Greg Bach, Dana Dewise, Julie VanHorn, Kelley Catlin, Jonathan Meyer, Diana Reeves, Michael Beringer, and Dianna Whitaker. The team showed an exceptional ability to coordinate with multiple groups and communities, and replace lead-contaminated soil on thousands of properties. The second Superfund Team Award went to the San Fernando Valley Superfund Team of Region 9. Team members, who were not present, were Rachel Loftin, David Stensby, Bob Fitzgerald, Marie Rongone, Michael Massey, Andrew Taylor, Jackie Lane, Matt Mitguard, and Fred Schauffler. The team manages all four Superfund sites in its area, displaying an ability to work together, share information, and support each other.
Mr. Woolford then announced three awards for Superfund Community Involvement. The Remedial Project Manager Award went to Bob Feild of Region 7, who was not present. He is the project coordinator at the Omaha Lead Site, one of the largest Superfund sites in the county. Because of his outreach at this difficult and complex site, the community has accepted EPA’s work, and lead poisoning in children has been significantly reduced in the community. Mr. Woolford presented the On-Scene Coordinator Award to Eduardo Rovira of Region 3, who has shown outstanding leadership at the BoRit Asbestos Site in Pennsylvania. He established trust and credibility with the community, and made sure community members were involved in the process that resulted in the site recently being added to the National Priorities List. The award for Citizens Excellence – Community Group went to the Fish Contamination Education Collaborative Community Outreach Team. Team members, who were not present, were Heal the Bay, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, St. Anselm’s Cross Cultural Community Center, Boat People SOS, Yolando Lasmarias, Howard Wang, and Hee Joo Yoon. Mr. Woolford and Barry Breen, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, met with two members of the team in May. They congratulated the team members on their outstanding job engaging their community in the efforts associated with consumption of fish contaminated by the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund Site. The team is deeply committed to the protection of public health and the environment, and site outreach and education has advanced with their help.
In addition, Mr. Woolford announced that there were two honorable mentions for Record of Decision (ROD) of the Year: the ROD for the South Minneapolis Residential Soil Contamination Site in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Region 5, and the ROD for the Hanford 200 Area (200-ZP-1) Superfund Site in Benton County, Washington, Region 10.
David Lloyd, Director of the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, presented three Brownfields and Land Revitalization Awards. The first was the Outstanding Brownfields Teamwork Award, which he presented to Noemi Emeric of Region 9’s Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Cleanup and Redevelopment Team. The other team members, who were not present, were Dave Hodges, Carl Warren, and Susanne Perkins. The team’s project was the first of its kind on an Indian-owned site in the Western Region, and team members worked with the county, State of Nevada, and tribe. Redevelopment, which includes a store than has created 500 jobs and tax revenue, would not have come to fruition without the team. The Land Revitalization Planting the Seeds Award went to the Visioning to Green: Revitalization in Valley, Alabama, Team of Region 4. Mr. Lloyd presented the award to Matthew Robbins of EPA-RCRA, and Martha Cato and Jim Jones of the City of Valley, Alabama. Other team members, who were not present, were Karen Bandhauer, Michael Norman, Steve Smith, Camilla Warren, and Philip Vorsatz of EPA-RCRA; Maryjo Bragan of EPA-Water; James Waddell and Olice Carter, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Larry Bryant and Larry Norris, Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Bill Morrison, Alabama Department of Revenue; John Gemmill and Cyndi Yarbrough, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Bonnie Durham and Eric Stockton, Appalachian Regional Commission; Steve Pelham and Bruce Heath, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Daniel Gropper and Cheryl Morgan, Auburn University. This project rose to the top because of the tremendous collaboration of the teams that found revitalization solutions for Valley’s mills. Mr. Lloyd praised Mr. Robbins as a leader in land revitalization, environmental justice, and bringing people together.
Mr. Lloyd also presented the Land Revitalization Cross Program Results Award to the Northside Aztlan Community Center-Poudre River, Fort Collins, Colorado, Team of Region 8. Accepting the award on behalf of the team were Jennifer Lane of Region 8, and Dan Powell and Steve Dyment of EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation. Other team members, who were not present, were Sabrina Forrest, Karen Reed, Paul Peronard, Gina Andrews, and Matt Cohn of Region 8; and Mark Walker, Dan Scheppers, and Mark Rudolph of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The project highlights the collaboration of EPA and a forward-thinking community that achieved the goal of expanding a community center by completing an efficient cleanup, reusing contaminated properties, and building a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-certified recreation center.
Brigid Lowery, Acting Director of the Center for Program Analysis, presented the Center for Program Analysis - OSWER Sustainability Team Award to the West Coast Climate and Materials Management Team of Regions 9 and 10. Team members, who were not present, were Timonie Hood and Saskia van Gendt of Region 9; Dana Warn, Tracy Chellis, Viccy Salazar, Alexandra Dysard, and Julie Bowen of Region 10; David Allaway of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; Babe O’Sullivan of the City of Portland; Geoffrey Glenn of the City of Spokane; John Davis of the Mohave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority; Bill Smith of the City of Tacoma; Sego Jackson of Snohomish County; Jay Shepard of the Washington Department of Ecology; Doug Buteyn of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; and Donna Mears of the Municipality of Anchorage. The team tapped into a number of innovative tools and approaches to develop the linkage between materials management and climate action plans. Ms. Lowery praised the team’s work as an example of how EPA is providing leadership that will reduce greenhouse gases for years to come.
Debbie Dietrich, Director of the Office of Emergency Management, announced five Emergency Management Awards. She presented the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention (CEPP) National Leadership Award to Bill Robberson of Region 9, whom she praised as the main force behind Region 9’s response preparedness program. He is everywhere at once, she said, always looking for ways to improve things on the regional and national levels, and understanding the value of external relationships. Ms. Dietrich then presented the CEPP State Partner Award to Robert Full, Chief of Emergency Services for Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, who has had a long and distinguished career that includes promoting several programs that have helped local efforts to update the skills of first responders. The On-Scene Coordinator Award went to Hays Griswold of Region 8, who was not present, for his work on mining sites, especially in Leadville, Colorado. At Leadville, a drainage tunnel held a buildup of more than a billion gallons of water and was ready to blow out. Mr. Griswold worked with the community during the emergency, which occurred at 10,000 feet in the Colorado winter with heavy snowfall. Ms. Dietrich presented the Homeland Security Award to Terry Stilman of Region 4 for providing vital leadership and enhancing regional and Agency preparedness for incidences of national significance. He also travels to Washington, D.C., to provide advice to Headquarters staff. The Oil Program Award went to Chuck Eger of Region 4, who was not present, for his leadership in the region’s abandoned oil well program. His efforts led to the plugging of 54 abandoned oil wells in 2008, which prevented the potential discharge of thousands of gallons of crude oil into U.S. waters.
Introducing two Federal Facilities Response Awards, John Reeder, Director of the Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office, congratulated all the award winners. He said that among the Superfund program’s greatest strengths were the staff on the ground and the great talent in the regions. The Individual Award for Federal Facilities Response went to Mark Ripperda of Region 9, who was not present. He is one of the Agency’s most experienced Remedial Project Managers and has faced great pressure at the Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund Site in San Francisco. The city decided that the site was a suitable location for the new 49ers professional football stadium, and that cleanup and construction needed to be completed by 2012 or the football team would relocate to another city. Mr. Reeder said that with Mr. Ripperda, EPA has one its best at the site. Mr. Reeder presented the Team Award for Federal Facilities Response to David Jenkins and Timothy Woolheater of the Milan Army Ammunition Plant Formal Dispute Resolution Team of Region 4. Team member David Buxbaum was not present. The team resolved a groundwater dispute by developing approaches and strategies to lead EPA management through complex and time-consuming groundwater discussions with the Army that had been going on for nearly two years. The approach was so well received that it has been integrated into a training program that is being used throughout Region 4.
Carolyn Hoskinson, Acting Director of the Office of Underground Storage Tanks, announced two Underground Storage Tank Awards. She presented the Underground Storage Tanks Cleanup/Revitalization Award to Jack Hwang of Region 3, who initiated a multi-phase project with a number of partners to use innovative tools for cleaning up a backlog of leaking underground storage tank sites in West Virginia. Ms. Hoskinson presented the Underground Storage Tanks Compliance Award to Dennis McChesney of Region 2 on behalf of the UST Compliance Team of Region 2. Other team members, who were not present, were Claudia Gutierrez, Rebecca Jamison, Frank Spina, Paul Sacker, Lisa Kim, Meaghan LaReau, Ton Moy, Leonard Voo, Charles Zafonte, Kathleen Malone, Stuart Keith, Karen Taylor, Bruce Aber, Rudolph Perez, William Sawyer, Naomi Shapiro, and Doug McKenna of Region 2; and Sandra Levy and Mark Gallagher of the U.S. Department of Justice. There is a mandate to inspect every tank every three years by either EPA or the states. The Region 2 team knew that the states couldn’t accomplish all the inspections, so it completed 643 compliance inspections in 2008 – more than any other EPA enforcement program.
William Sette, Senior Science Advisor of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, announced two Regional Science Awards. He presented the Regional Science Team Award to William Brandon on behalf of the Fort Devens Superfund Site – “Red Cove” Team of Region 1. Other team members, who were not present, were Ginny Lombardo and Rick Sugatt of Region 1; and Robert Ford, Kirk Scheckel, Steven Acree, Randall Ross, Bob Lien, Todd Luxton, and Patrick Clark of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory. Mr. Sette said the team accomplished an amazing amount of complicated work at the Fort Devens site to support EPA’s position that the Army must move forward with a remedial investigation and risk assessment at the site. The team’s report on its findings provided context for the contamination. Mr. Sette also presented the Regional Science Individual Award to Michael Sivak of Region 2, who led the development of a risk assessment guidance for Superfund, Part F. His work led to a new guidance for the Superfund program and a document that is easily understood.
The ceremony returned to Mr. Stanislaus, who presented the Environmental Justice Award to four members of the Escambia Treating Company Phase 2 Relocation Team of Region 4: Erik Spalvins and L’Tonya Spencer of Region 4, and Jeff Groden and Michael Grove of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Other team members, who were not present, were David Keefer and Caroline Robinson of Region 4, and Willie Patterson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Stanislaus reflected on his work with environmental justice communities, and cited the sense of hopelessness and fracturing that a relocation causes. When the Escambia Wood Treating Company went bankrupt, many low-income, minority residents lost their jobs, and many had to move their families. The Region 4 team demonstrated a level of caring with the relocation of the Clarinda Triangle neighborhood that won the hearts of the people. Community residents came to know and trust team members, who in turn came to know the families, their struggles, and their warmth and generosity. When the project was completed, neighborhood residents held a barbecue for EPA and Army Corps personnel.
In closing, Mr. Woolford thanked all the award recipients and their families for traveling to Washington, D.C., and the EPA team that put together the ceremony: David Alvaranga, Connie Andrews, Bill Ross, and Karen Martin. He also thanked the members of the panels who reviewed the nominations and picked the winners. Every EPA region had an award winner, which showed the depth of the OSWER program, he said. He congratulated all OSWER staff members for being a great team that protects the health and environment of the American public.
