EPA Region III:
2ft Years of Making a Difference
903R90003
TD
171.3
.M53
U55
1990
copy 2
1970 - 1990
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EPA Region III
CONTENTS
Remarks William K. Reilly
Introduction Edwin B. Erickson
Preface Stanley L. Laskowski
Region III History 1
Region HI Legacy 5
Region III People 7
Region III Heritage 22
In Memoriam Inside Back Cover
COVER ILLUSTRATION: Each year, Region Ill's Ciiapter of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) sponsors a Poem and
Poster Contest among the Region's elementary school children. The cover illustration was one of this year's winning entries. The
young artist is Lauren McCann of the fourth Grade of Our Lady of Calvary School in Philadelphia.
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Regional Offices Make a Difference
William K. Reilly
EPA Administrator
Twenty years ago on December 1,1970 more than 5,500 people
from five federal organizations were brought together to create the
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Over the past two
decades the staff of EPA, in partnership with many other Americans,
have made tremendous strides in protecting public health and the en-
vironment. We can take great pride in these advances, in the local,
state, and private efforts which we've helped foster, in the innovative
work we're doing in developing new technologies, and in the quality,
dedication, and diversity of our colleagues.
Our Regional Offices play a central role in making all this and more happen. Region III efforts,
for instance, have led to nationwide filtration provisions for surf ace water, to radon technical as-
sistance and public awareness programs, and to a model partnership to help save the great es-
tuaries, such as the Chesapeake Bay.
As the EPA family celebrates our 20th Anniversary, I thank all of you for contributing to our suc-
cess and for helping lay the groundwork for an even more productive future. We can look for-
ward to working together, as a team, to deal with the environmental challenges before us, at home
and abroad. Through all this, I know EPA will continue to get the best from our people. All of
you are making this Agency the place to be to make a difference in the environment.
U.S. EPA Region III
Regional Center for Environmental Information
US EPA Region III
1650 Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
, PA 19103
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The Region III Story:
Twenty Years of Making a Difference
Edwin B. Erickson
Regional Administrator
This book is dedicated to all Region III employees, past and
present, who are dedicated to protecting the environment.
You have all helped - whether by inspecting facilities, initiat-
ing enforcement, typing documents, tracking dollars spent
and hours worked, or in countless other ways.
A lot of EPA's history is in this book. It will bring back
memories for some of you and provide new insight into
Region III for others. Even as we move ahead into a new
decade to face new environmental challenges, we must be
aware of our history. We must learn from past experience.
One area in which Region III can take pride is innovation.
Looking back on the Region's leadership in the Bay
Program, Superfund cleanups, and overall enforcement of
environmental laws, makes me proud to be apart of the con-
tinuing Region HI story.
Another source of pride is your enthusiasm, with which you
inspire newcomers, so that your dedication and commitment
is continually being handed down from one generation of
employees to the next. Part of our legacy will be that the spirit
and enthusiasm that was present in 1970 is still evident today
and will still be with us in another 20 years. Of that fact, I
am most proud.
EPA Region III employees in the 1970s.
EPA Region III employees today.
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A Time of Celebration;
An Opportunity for Renewed Commitment
Stanley L. Laskowski
Deputy Regional Administrator
EPA's 20th Anniversary provides us with an opportunity to celebrate past
successes and to renew our commitment to the future. This book reflects on
the environmental accomplishments in the Middle Atlantic States through
the eyes of Region Ill's managers, staff and outside partners.
Through the dedication and contributions of hundreds of past and present
employees of EPA Region III and State colleagues, many environmental im-
provements have been made during the past two decades. As the success of
the 1970s and 1980s is celebrated, we can take pride in knowing that EPA
Region III played a leadership role in ensuring cleaner air in most urban
areas and cleaner water in many major rivers and streams. We can thank
the many talented employees at all levels of the organization that were
responsible for these successes. We can reflect on the improvements in the
laws and the institutions that enabled these accomplishments to take place. And, as we work toward a
common goal, we can celebrate the relationships with our many outside partners - environmental groups,
academia, government officials and industry, both in the U.S. and abroad.
While the environmental and institutional successes of the past are celebrated, this 20th Anniversary also
is a chance to rededicate ourselves to the mission of EPA and to the challenges of the future. Compared
to 1970, the world seems much smaller, the problems more daunting, and the solutions more complex. As
past gains through the regulation of hundreds of thousands of pollution sources are continuously improved
upon, we face other challenges. Species extinction, climate change, and stratospheric ozone depletion are
worldwide environmental threats with potentially catastrophic consequences. The science of environmen-
tal management is becoming increasingly aware of the inter-connectedness of all things but the exact cause-
and-effect relationship of many environmental problems is not fully understood. Some of the
environmental management tools needed to address these problems have not been used as effectively as
possible in the past. They include market incentives, environmental education, pollution prevention, and
partnership-building. These tools must be sharpened so that they can be used in combination with the ex-
isting technology-based pollution control mechanisms that have been responsible for past successes.
As environmental leaders in the 1990s and beyond, EPA Region III employees will supplement their suc-
cessful practices of the past in many new ways. We will tackle the complexities of recognizing and utiliz-
ing pollution prevention techniques in administering EPA's programs. We will combine enforcement
efforts with encouraging voluntary efforts by polluting facilities. We will better understand the role of con-
sumer habits on the local and world-wide environment. We will further improve our working relation-
ships at home and abroad with varied external groups the general public, industry, state and local
government, environmental groups, academia, who want a better environment. And, most important-
ly, we will continue to develop and nurture each other professionally and personally.
It is my great pleasure to join with you in celebrating EPA's 20th anniversary and in rededicating our-
selves to our important mission of protecting human health and the environment for future generations.
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Region III People
ill
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Region III People
Region m 1970-1990
People Who Have
Made a Difference
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Region III People
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Region III History
1970-90; Looking Back
In Philadelphia, the Delaware
River was so filthy with sewage
you could smell it from an
airplane. In Pittsburgh, motorists
drove with their lights on in broad
daylight because of the smog.
President Lyndon B. Johnson once
called the Potomac River a nation-
al disgrace. The bald eagle,
America's symbol, was endangered
by the pesticide DDT.
People wanted action and their
frustration erupted upon the na-
tional consciousness. On Earth
Day, April 22,1970 millions of
demonstrators challenged the
federal government to protect the
environment.
Answering this challenge, Presi-
dent Richard M. Nixon established
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and appointed William D.
Ruckelshaus as the first Admini-
strator. The Agency opened for
business on December 2,1970.
On that date, some employees of
15 major federal environmental
Agencies became employees of
EPA. In Charlottesville, Va. the
Federal Water Quality Administra-
tion (FWQA) employees no longer
worked for the Department of the
Interior. Neither did the FWQA
employees who worked for field of-
fices in Annapolis, Md., Wheeling,
W. Va. or Philadelphia.
Lloyd Gebhart, the Regional
Director of the FWQA, was desig-
nated Acting Regional Adminis-
trator, pending appointment of the
Region's first Administrator.
All through the spring and sum-
mer of 1971, employees from Char-
lottesville were moving to
Philadelphia to join air experts
from the Federal Air Pollution
Control Administration, pesticides
experts from the Department of
Agriculture, water experts from
the Delaware River and Ohio
River Basin Commissions and
solid waste experts from the Public
Health Service in Bethesda, Md.
New employees were hired to sup-
Roland Schrecongost, Warren Carter, Diane Margenau, Al Morris take a river tour
to look at the impact of industrial and municipal sewage discharges on water quality.
plement the growing EPA Region
III workforce. Some joined the
ranks in the temporary Regional of-
fices at 401N. Broad Street in
Philadelphia while others were
detailed to Charlottesville to learn
the ropes.
In September, the Charlottesville
office closed its doors for good and
EPA Region III employees moved
into their first permanent space at
the Curtis Building, at 6th & Wal-
nut Streets in Philadelphia, in Sep-
tember, 1971.
Chaos mingled with excitement
as the heady euphoria of founding
a new agency was often dashed by
the realities of the massive task at
hand.
It was challenging work but it
was done around long tables for
want of desks. In fact, it took a
visit by Administrator Ruckelshaus
to get those desks into the office
space in 1972.
Shortly after the permanent
Region III offices opened, Edward
Furia, who had come to local
prominence through his involve-
ment in Philadelphia's Earth Day
activities (the largest in the na-
tion), was appointed the first
Regional Administrator. Furia
organized the Regional office in
January, 1972 and served until
February, 1973.
Every action the fledgling Regional
Office took was without precedent.
Most of the work involved organiz-
ing the staff and defining the new
management and regulatory func-
tions. Region Ill's organization
has been modified many times
since 1972.
The Region's first arrangement in-
cluded:
Office of Regional Counsel
(Dan Snyder)
Office of Congressional and
Intergovernmental Relations
(Diane Margenau)
Equal Opportunity Division
(Dan Geller)
Management Services Division
(Pat Gorman)
Public Affairs Division
(Mark Silverman)
Air and Water Programs
Division
(Steve Wassersug)
Solid Waste, Radiation and
Noise Programs Division
(Gordon Rapier)
Surveillance Division
(Al Montague)
Enforcement Division
(Jake Hart)
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Region III History
Air and water quality dominated
the Agency's early days, taking
turns in terms of priority. The
Regional Office had barely made it
through its first year when disaster
struck. Hurricane Agnes tore a
path of destruction up the eastern
seaboard and into the Philadelphia
area in the summer of 1972. The
storm caused many of the anti-
quated wastewater treatment sys-
tems in the eastern half of the
Region to overflow, sending tons
of raw sewage and industrial waste
into area streams and rivers. The
disaster work followed the
Agency's earliest priority of
making the nation's waterways fish-
able and swimmable.
thousands of minor facilities. As a
result, fish have returned to Lake
Erie, the Delaware and Potomac
Rivers, and other waterways once
thought dead.
On the heels of Hurricane Agnes,
severe air pollution episodes hi the
Pittsburgh and Wheeling areas
brought air quality into the spot-
light. The reauthorization of the
Clezin Air Act in 1970 had given
the Region the authority to
develop programs and implement
regulations to begin to effectively
combat air pollution.
Region Hi's earliest clean air
initiatives focused on steel industry
compliance because of the con-
centration of plants within the
Bill Wisniewski sweais in Regional Administrator Jack Schramm.
The major tools that EPA used to
accomplish this goal were the Con-
struction Grants Program, a major
public works program to build or
improve outdated and inadequate
wastewater treatment facilities,
and the National Pollution Dis-
charge Elimination System
(NPDES) Program which
prohibited any discharge of waste-
water to surface waters without a
permit. Over the next 18 years, the
Construction Grants Program
would fund more than 8,000
projects at a cost of almost $6 bil-
lion. The NPDES program would
improve water quality by regulat-
ing more than 800 major municipal
and industrial facilities and
Region. Regional Administrator
Furia brought the heated steel con-
troversy to a boil when he descend-
ed by helicopter into the then U.S.
Steel Clan-ton Works to deliver a
stinging denouncement of an agree-
ment between the company, Pen-
nsylvania and Allegheny County.
Daniel J. Snyder, the first Re-
gional Counsel for EPA Region
III, took office as Regional Ad-
ministrator hi March, 1973. The
Agency, by then, had a clear sense
of purpose and active programs.
Early on, Snyder had to grapple
with the States in the Region over
State: Implementation Plans (SIPs),
action plans the States used for
achieving the air quality standards
set by the Clean Air Act. The
often difficult negotiations with the
States grew hi intensity, fueled by
threats from industry and spurred
on by the enthusiasm of environ-
mental groups and the general
public, who sought to eliminate the
visible emissions.
The successes of the air pro-
gram would bring about significant
improvements in Regional air
quality, even as sources of air pollu-
tion, like cars and industry, were in-
creasing in number. From 1978 to
1988, carbon monoxide emissions
decreased 25 percent, sulfur
dioxide and volatile organics each
by 17 percent, particulates by 23
percent and ambient lead con-
centrations by 94 percent.
In 1975, Russell Train became
the Agency's second Adminis-
trator and the Pittsburgh area ex-
perienced a repeat air pollution
episode. This one was so severe
that the public called for action
and the media focused on whether
the poor air quality was respon-
sible for "excess" deaths in the
county.
So intensely was the nation
watching its air and water that the
Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) passed in
1976 with little fanfare. RCRA es-
tablished, for the first tune, a man-
agement program, later known as
the "cradle to grave" program, for
solid and hazardous waste. Initial-
ly, the Region's role was limited to
ensuring that each state had a solid
waste program, although hazard-
ous waste management and dis-
posal had finally been recognized
as serious threats to the environ-
ment and health. Regulations
which allowed EPA to control haz-
ardous waste disposal became ef-
fective in 1980.
When Jack Schramm, a former
State Representative from St.
Louis, took over as Regional Ad-
ministrator hi October, 1977 air is-
sues still claimed national priority
with the reauthorization of the
Clean Air Act. He arrived just in
tune to participate in the often
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Region in History
heated confrontations with the
States over implementation of the
Inspection/Maintenance Program
for automobile emission control
equipment.
Schramm's tenure was marked by
several initiatives which attempted
to improve EPA's relationships
with State and local governments.
One combined several offices and
programs into a single Office of In-
tergovernmental Relations and
Public Awareness. State Program
Officers (SPOs) were assigned to
field offices in each State capitol to
work with the States to develop for-
malized State-EPA Agreements.
The Region also continued to
delegate Federal air and water
programs to State agencies that
were beginning to develop then-
own capabilities. An event of na-
tional significance, the accident at
Three Mile Island in March, 1979
focused attention on Region III.
Schramm was the father of flex
time in the Regional office and he
agreed to make Region III part of
a pilot study, along with seven
other federal offices, of a concept
called Alternative Work Schedules,
Roy Schrock, Pat Anderson, June Morgan, and Jean Jonas test noise levels in 1980 shortly before
the program became the victim of budget cuts.
Tom Voltai
m Voltaggio discusses the expanding hazardous waste progra
during Administrator Gorsuch's visit to the Region in 1981.
now known as the compressed
work week.
Douglas Costle became the third
EPA Administrator during this
period and the discovery of Love
Canal and the Valley of the Drums
hi the late 1970s skyrocketed haz-
ardous waste into national
prominence.
In the Region, initial response to
hazardous waste emergencies like
the PCBs in
Youngsville and
the Butler Mine
Tunnel could only
be funded through
Section 311 of the
Clean Water Act,
which authorized
activities to clean
up or prevent oil
contamination of
surface water. It
was clear that a
comprehensive
program to ad-
dress hazardous
waste dumps and
emergencies was
sorely needed.
Reacting to the
national furor over
hazardous waste
disposal, Presi-
dent Jimmy Carter
proposed a "super
fund" of special
revenue generated by a tax on the
petrochemical industry. The legis-
lation setting up this fund, the Com-
prehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act, was passed in 1980,
ushering in a new era for the
Agency.
The environmental situation was
vastly different in 1980. There had
been considerable progress in
EPA's first ten years. There were
no more burning rivers, no clouds
of black soot from industry and
choking smogs of automobile ex-
haust. There were new problems
and concerns, however. Plants
were still discharging toxics, asbes-
tos was looming as a health threat
and more and more abandoned
waste sites were being discovered.
When Ronald Reagan became the
38th President in 1980, he ap-
pointed Anne Burford Gorsuch as
EPA Administrator. Peter Bibko
became Regional Administrator in
September, 1981.
The state of the economy in the
early 1980s was forcing debate be-
tween the need to lighten the load
on industry and the need to in-
crease environmental regulation.
Public opinion was quick to show
that the Agency needed to increase
its role and once again lead the
States to improve the quality of the
environment further.
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Region HI History
EPA's $27 million Chesapeake
Bay research program showed that
the Bay was in big trouble. Its
living resources and water quality
were in a steady decline. In
December, 1983, public consensus
led the Governors of Maryland,
Virginia, and Pennsylvania to
pledge, along with EPA, to clean
up the Bay.
The 1984 return of the first EPA
Administrator William Ruckel-
shaus to his previous post boosted
morale and launched what could
be described as the modern era for
the Agency.
Ruckelshaus
was a hero to
many in EPA.
During the
early 1980s,
Regional staff
were implemen-
ting the Super-
fund program,
learning the
technical and
management
basics that
would lay the
foundation for
the strong haz-
ardous waste
and emergency
response
programs that
would develop.
In addition, the
Chesapeake
Bay Program
received national attention for
Region III. Finally, the Region
saw significant increases in both
human and fiscal resources.
These developments, plus the
strong management styles of
Ruckelshaus' successor Lee
Thomas, and Thomas Eichler, the
Region III Administrator, com-
bined to continue reshaping and
rebuilding the Agency.
EPA Region III grew rapidly, espe-
cially the Hazardous Waste
Management Division, launching a
period of unprecedented growth in
the Regional office, growth which
is continuing today. This forced
parts of the expanding staff onto
the third floor of the Curtis Build-
ing, where they shared office space
with pigeons.
In 1984, partially because of the
rapid growth and corresponding
space requirements, the Regional
Office left the Curtis Building for
its current home at 841 Chestnut
Street.
James M. Seif, who had worked as
Chief of the Legal Branch of the
Enforcement Division, returned as
Regional Administrator on March
25,1985.
Region III employees enjoy looking at photographs and memorabilia during
the Agency's 15th Anniversary celebration.
Seif initiated extensive human
resources and external affairs
programs like Managing for En-
vironmental Results (MERITS),
the Institute for Cooperative En-
vironmental Management (ICEM),
and the Center for Environmental
Learning.
Other initiatives included a sig-
nificant increase in enforcement, a
State/Federal agreement to reduce
by 40 percent the introduction of
nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay,
and greater emphasis on wetlands
protection.
During the mid-1980s, the
Regional Office took on two issues
that reflected the Agency's focus
on high-risk problems. The
Agency's top management began
to examine the risks to health and
the environment and prioritize en-
vironmental issues according to
risk.
In 1989, Dr. Edwin B. Erickson be-
came the Region's seventh Admin-
istrator, presiding over a staff of
nearly 950. Erickson has con-
tinued the national prominence of
the Regional office, leading the
Agency with initiatives in Total
Quality Improvement, Strategic
Planning, and
Comparative
Risk Analysis.
Under
Erickson's
tenure, the in-
fluence of
EPA Region
HI has ex-
panded inter-
nationally
through invol-
vement in en-
vironmental
programs for
Italy, Ger-
many, Poland,
China, the
Netherlands,
and, now,
Eastern
Europe,
through the
newly estab-
lished
Budapest Center.
What can we expect in the decades
ahead? In the next few pages,
Regional Administrator Edwin B.
Erickson is joined by Region Ill's
top managers in a series of inter-
views discussing the current state
of affairs and discussing what our
history may include in the year
2010.
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Region III Legacy
Edwin B. Erickson
Regional Administrator
An Interview
What are your thoughts on the role of the Regional
Administrator?
"I view my role, at least to some degree, as trying to
promote and move Administrator Reilly's priorities for-
ward in an operational fashion. There generally has
been agreement among our career upper-level manage-
ment as to the need for strategic planning, for a total
quality management approach, to incorporate pollution
prevention into our daily activities and into his other
priorities."
What was Mr. Reilly's charge to you when you were ap-
pointed?
"What he said that stands out the most is that he has
dedicated his Me and career to the environment and he
asked for my help to move forward on improving it."
How do you see his thoughts on the role of the Regional
Administrators in overall Agency management?
"He has reached out and solicited concerns, ideas, at-
titudes and thoughts of all senior staff, not just the
Regional Administrators. He is concerned that the
whole senior staff work together in a concerted fashion
and move forward."
Regional Administrator Erickson sees moving forward on
Administrator Reilly's priorities as one of his primary roles.
What are your thoughts on the June 14 Town Meeting with
the Administrator in Philadelphia?
"It was an opportunity for all of us in the Region and
some of the folks from Washington to hear the concerns
of people who were faced with an incinerator, a landfill
or a Superfund site that was next to them or in close
Formal presentations to large groups help
communicate what everyone can do
to prevent pollution.
proximity to
them. What
came through
were very
real concerns
from the
neighbors of
these
facilities.
They per-
sonalized the
whole en-
vironmental
concern."
Manypeople
thought, until
recently, that
the environ-
mental move-
ment was limited to preserving wilderness lands and out-
door recreational areas. Do you see those goals expanding
today?
"Professionally, being in the field of biology, I love the
outdoors and that's partly how I got involved in the en-
vironment. I think a lot of people have come to the
movement through appreciation of the outdoors.
However, today you also have the people who aren't as
concerned about the recreational aspects of the out-
doors, but who began to see that, through our everyday
activities, we have an impact on our environment. The
sudden knowledge that there was a hazardous waste site
nearby shook up many people as thousands of sites were
identified. People now realize that toxic materials are
more common in their living environment than they real-
ized. They began to link the state of their environment
with their own health."
Isn 't it true that some of the worst pollution problems
affect urban areas?
"It's hard to say which are the worst pollution problems.
However, pollution such as smog and other urban
problems has the potential to affect millions of people
because that is where most of the population lives."
What do you think about current efforts to protect the
environment?
"In the past, we departmentalized our environmental ef-
forts into water, air, solid waste and so on down the line
with some impressive results. Today, it is becoming
more and more evident that we also have to begin to
look at each of these as being interconnected and inter-
dependent if we are going to make further progress. For
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Region III Legacy
example, household sewage goes to a treatment plant
where it is treated. That concentrates the solid waste
into sludge, which is often buried in landfills. It can be
made into fertilizer, however. Rather than moving waste
from one place to another, pollution prevention needs to
become a part of our everyday thinking. We must pro-
duce less waste, both in terms of quantity and toxicity."
That is quite challenging, is it not?
"One challenge, I think, is to begin to broaden our
perspective on environmental problems, incorporating
the multi-media, cross-media approach with a pollution
prevention ethic. The other challenge, as I see it, is to
use more environmental indicators to measure our suc-
cesses in the environment. We must begin to focus on
reducing risks - both human health and ecological."
What are your thoughts on the linkages that EPA has with
the rest of the environmental community and how are
those linkages important to us?
"They are extremely important.
EPA can increase its effective-
ness by incorporating resour-
ces from outside the Agency.
These resources exist not only
in the governmental com-
munity but also in the private
sector. We need to build
partnerships with these en-
tities."
Do you have any thoughts on
the changing roles and
capabilities of the State Agen-
cies during EPA's first 20 years ?
off the ground. The State Environmental Secretaries
have been creative in doing this."
For what do you want your years at EPA to be
remembered?
"Probably for encouraging the Region to seize oppor-
tunities that currently exist. There is interest on the part
of the public to work toward environmental improve-
ment. President Bush and Bill Reilly have indicated
their support and provided leadership so that we have an
opportunity to move ahead. We must enable the people
here who have the expertise to have an impact on the im-
provement of the environment, particularly by encourag-
ing pollution prevention approaches. I think that we
have an opportunity to look at various situations and try
to gain some momentum forward. For example, the Air,
Toxics, and Radiation Management Division in Region
III looked at the impact of some cogeneration plants. By
considering the aggregate of these facilities and the pol-
lution that they would pump
into the air, they were able to
convince the facilities to take a
look at some innovative tech-
nology and the use of coal with
less sulfur content. There are
all sorts of opportunities like
that for incorporating pollu-
tion prevention."
Do you see any partisan chan-
ges, at the national level, of sup-
port for the environment?
Another key role of the Regional Administrator is giving
Administrator Reilly and his Assistant Administrators a view
of Regional operations, such as Superfund activities.
"I think the State Agencies have a very difficult problem
because they recognize the need to do more and more,
but they face a resource that is not growing commen-
surately with their needs. The combined sewer overflow
problem can be used as an example. It is a massiive
problem, especially in some of the older cities. Multi-
million dollar public works projects will be necessary to
solve it. Unlike the past 20 years of federal funding for
helping to build wastewater treatment plants, there is no
appropriation for these new projects. We simply have to
let the States know that money may not be there from the
federal government, that they are going to have to find al-
ternate funding to solve their existing problems."
How do the States react to that idea?
"Some states have very effectively leveraged the federal
dollars in some of the programs. They have been able to
maximize their ability to design and actually get projects
"The environmental con-
stituency is widespread. In
1970, environmental concern
wasn't really a political issue
so much as an issue of concern to the college-age genera-
tion. Maybe one of the reasons we're beginning to see
widespread interest and concern amongst the populace,
is that we have been successful in raising the level of
awareness of the importance of environmental preserva-
tion throughout society."
What are your thoughts on the relationship between the
economy and environmental improvement?
"One of our challenges is to provide solutions to
problems that can be implemented. To me, this means
not only technologically possible but also solutions
designed to be based on an economically feasible ap-
proach. The control of sulfur dioxide in the Clean Air
Act Amendments is an example of this type of approach.
We're beginning to see some slowdown in the economy,
but I don't think it's going to have a great effect in terms
of reversing this trend of interest and concern."
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Region III People
Greene Jones
Director
Environmental Services Division
For Greene Jones, Environ-
mental Services Division Direc-
tor, the 20 years he has spent
with EPA have come down to
one thing - Wetlands!
Greene, a charter employee
who was part of the Federal
Water Quality Administration
staff in Charlottesville, Va.
when EPA was created, has
seen many programs evolve
over the years but few have
been more important for
ecosystems than the wetlands program.
The former Water Division Director has been concerned
with water his whole EPA career but his thoughts keep
coming back to wetlands. Why wetlands? "They feed
our water supply. Like a tree, our water supply is fed
through its roots. Cut off the roots and the tree dies."
He characterizes the wetlands issue as cantankerous but
feels good about the growing concern for these valuable
ecosystems. "It demonstrates that ecology is still alive,"
he says. "Many people realize that a wooded wetland
takes hundreds of years to make. They are not easy to
recreate."
Greene is very happy that the
17-year-old wetlands program, which
has bounced around between Water
Management Division, the Assistant
Regional Administrator and Environ-
mental Services Division, among
others, finally came home to his
division to stay in 1986.
As he relates the history of the
Program, he recalls that, ten short
years ago, those who cared about wet-
lands were voices crying in the wilder-
ness. In the early 1980s, there were
even efforts to try to dismantle the
program. There was a vast public out-
cry.
When William Ruckelshaus
returned to the Agency as Ad-
ministrator in 1984, wetlands
protection took on a renewed sense of
urgency. Ruckelshaus passed this ur-
gency along to his successor, Lee
Thomas.
Thomas created the National Wet-
lands Forum in conjunction with the National Conserva-
tion Foundation. One of the influential members of the
Forum was William K. Reilly, the current EPA Ad-
ministrator. The Forum developed issue papers that
resulted in the 1988 publication of Protecting Wetlands:
An Action Agenda, which set forth the "No Net Loss"
philosophy.
According to Greene, "Then-Vice President Bush
picked up on the 'no net loss' theme in his campaign.
When he became President, he was committed to main-
taining the wetlands program." The result was that enfor-
cement was stepped up and EPA began exerting more
influence over the Program.
Greene feels the big, growing issue in wetlands is the
role of the federal government in land-use control. "That
land of gets at the heart of what America is all about."
Wetlands are at the forefront of the debate over sus-
tainable development. "People want the amenities of
waterfront development but they're destroying a very
special aspect of nature. Wetlands can never completely
be recreated."
He attributes our successes to many factors, most notab-
ly the Agency's high regard for science and the quality of
our workforce. "ESD represents the scientific arm of the
agency. We have always had a concern for good science.
There is also a need for good field credibility and
presence. In fact, laboratory and field analysis has al-
ways been one of our mainstays."
When it comes to his opinion of Region Ill's human
resources, he does not mince words. "The quality of the
people I've worked with at EPA has always been excel-
lent. EPA's attitude toward human resources manage-
ESD employees Art Spingarn, Jim Butch and Charlie Rhodes survey a
wetland area. Currently about 300,000 acres of wetland are lost each year.
ment has been excellent, too. People are our best assets,
there's no question about that. Our progressive attitude
toward minorities and women has helped us get the best
and the brightest. There is an extraordinary concern for
-------
Region HI People
Shelly Suflas and Steve Torok, the Environmental Impact
Statement Preparation Section Chief, review a study on the impact
of a federally-funded project in June, 1980.
people, especially in the areas of training and caree r
development."
As a result of this concern for people and their ideas,
good science, and organizational maturity, he feels that
Region III has developed a broader agenda than many
others. "In Region III, we are considerably more diverse
than any other Region, what with MERITS, oceans, pol-
lution prevention, estuaries, and wetlands. And that's
just what we do in ESD."
There have been changes. "We started out as the Surveil-
lance and Analysis Branch," he notes. "However, a lot of
those types of functions have been turned over to the
States and our concern has turned to quality control."
He acknowledges the impact State delegation has on the
way we do things. "Now we're attempting to look at
things differently, to break the mold a bit. The challenge
is how to cope with the changes we see taking place. The
ability to propose change and stay with it is critical for
success. In order to harness change to work for us, we
need programs and ideas like Strategic Planning, ft is an
instrument for change in an organized fashion. We are
fortunate to have good leadership, both hi the Region
and at Headquarters."
Greene talked about some of the major changes that
must take place if we, as a society, are to climb out of the
danger zone. "Pollution prevention equals cultural
Ramona Trovato works at the new Annapolis
Laboratory in September, 1980.
change," he notes. "A quarter-pound burger causes a
pound of trash. We create more new kinds of pollution.
We need to change people's attitudes. Excess alone is
waste."
He points out that we are still depleting our most valu-
able resources, including trees. "We're mining our
forests but not replenishing the trees as fast as we
deplete them."
Greene sees the importance of leading by example and
he is pleased by some of the progress that has begun
among federal facilities. "There is more awareness hi the
federal sector. Federal facilities know that they have to
comply."
Although there are still some complex problems hi this
area, he points to increased public pressure and cultural
change as being responsible for some improvement.
"Communities simply won't stand for the land of ir-
responsible behavior that occurred hi the past. The
Aberdeen Proving Ground criminal cases were a good
example."
Greene says he still looks forward to going to work each
and every day. "EPA has always been a progressive
Agency. I hope we never get old. I'm still excited about
working for EPA. Change is always exciting and Region
III is hi the forefront of the move to find better ways to
do things."
-------
Region III People
Tom Maslany
Director
Air, Toxics, & Radiation Management Division
Tom Maslany, who was hired
by Steve Wassersug in 1971,
worked his way up through the
Air Management ranks, becom-
ing Division Director in 1987.
While he is now devoting con-
siderable tune to understanding
and managing additional impor-
tant environmental areas such
as pesticides, toxic chemicals,
and radiation, his historical
perspective over the past 20
years has been from the
vantage point of air quality
management. There have been dramatic changes from
the first days of the Air and Water Division, then the Air
and Waste Division, through the establishment of a
separate Air Management Division, to today's Air,
Toxics and Radiation Management Division.
Many of these changes were the result of learning about
air pollution while trying to control it. The air quality
problems we face have changed over the years due, in no
small part, to our early successes with the largest, most
obvious industrial polluters. Tom notes that, "with
criteria air pollutants, such as particulate matter,
sulfur dioxide, and ozone, we focused at first on
the big industrial sources. Now we know that
many of the remaining air pollution problems are
more complex and related to lifestyle. With the
possible exception of air toxics, the multitude of
little sources, including our personal cars, are
now more important than the few remaining large
industrial ones."
"In the early days," says Tom, "the problems
were less complicated, or so we thought. Twenty
years ago, we had a simplistic view of the
problems, their causes and solutions. We focused
on the most visible sources. Long range transport
of air pollutants was not appreciated, nor were
the interrelationships among various pollutants
and the toxic nature of some emissions."
Tom notes that we are still paying the price in
some areas for decades of neglecting to control
toxic air pollution. As an example, he cites a
Philadelphia lead operation that has con-
taminated a surrounding neighborhood after probably 80
years of emissions into the atmosphere.
Enforcement has been a large part of air pollution con-
trol and it too has seen many changes over the years. "In
the early 1970s, there were many companies violating the
tough standards of new laws and regulations. Both
EPA and the States went after those sources with the
states handling the bulk of the load. By the late 1970s, it
became obvious that many complex sources which had
not yet complied with requirements were in need of an
increased federal presence, particularly in the steel in-
dustry." EPA used an industry-wide approach.
In the mid-1980s, EPA developed an enforcement
policy that stresses timeliness and appropriateness, and
which allows State primacy in enforcing regulations. "So
long as the States take an aggressive stance, EPA's best
role is support," says Tom. "We function in a back-up
capacity within that policy. It's working very well."
The air program enters the 1990s in the midst of a
maelstrom of changes, thrust once again to the forefront
of our national environmental consciousness. It is an ex-
citing period.
"We're in the midst of a rebirth of the air program. In
the early 1980s, it was seen as a 'mature' program in
need of less attention than in the prior decade. Now we
know better." Tom credits our current risk-based en-
vironmental management approach that recognizes
toxics and pollutant transport as a sound approach.
However, the problems are far from being solved and he
believes we still have a long way to go.
The true extent to which we loaded our environment
with toxics, particularly the air we breathe, is just becom-
ing known. Tom observes that the Toxic Release Inven-
tory (TRI), established by the recent Emergency Plan-
ning and Community Right-to-Know Act, has recorded
Tom Maslany inspects J&L Steel Works in Pittsburgh, during EPA's 1970s
push to bring the steel industry into compliance with the Clean Air Act.
levels of toxic emissions that surprised everyone. "We're
just finding out about the full extent of toxics," he says.
"Even industries have been shocked by the TRI data."
Making risk-based management decisions which address
environmental issues will force us to look at "hot spots"
and encourage industry to take a "good neighbor"
-------
Region III People
10
approach. "For example, the Toxic Release Inventory
(TRI) data," he says, "will continue to help us identify
problem areas. The TRI information from Avtex in
Front Royal, Virginia, alerted us to a previously un-
recognized carbon disulfide problem. Before that, all
we heard was that there was an odor problem."
"We're facing a big dilemma related to society's in-
creasing need to become more concerned with in-
dividual decisions involving such matters as the use of
cars, recycling, and the kinds of products we manufac-
ture, purchase, and use. For instance, our lifestyle is
based to a large degree on the use of petrochemical-
based products such as plastics, spray products, and
coatings. We, must start to think about alternatives to
the line of products that result in loading
the environment with volatile organic com-
pounds with toxic properties.
"Cross-media pollution is another
emerging problem. Emissions of substan-
ces from the treatment of industrial waste-
water are a concern. Current water
regulations allow air stripping for Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOCs) which causes
air pollution.
"We must ensure that, while cleaning
pollution in one medium, such as ground-
water, we don't create a greater risk in
another one - air. We've started looking at
the risks from the interrelations between
and among media. We must be sure our
decisions are correct and based upon risk.
It doesn't pay to make isolated decisions."
Air is not necessarily the final resting
place for pollutant loading. Even the
Chesapeake Bay suffers from air pollution.
According to Tom, over one-third of the
nitrogen loading in the Chesapeake Bay comes from air
emission;;. It continues to increase. Cars and power
plants both contribute nitrogen to the Bay.
Air pollution problems respect no borders. To deal ef-
fectively with air pollution transport, EPA is develop-
ing essential interstate cooperation programs.
The primary air pollutant related to the transport issue
is ozone, or smog. The Regional Ozone Model Nor-
theast Transport (ROMNET) program and the recent-
ly-formed Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management
Association (MARAMA), which includes all the
Region III States plus New Jersey and North Carolina,
demonstrate acceptance of the proposition which, in
Tom's words, says, "It's clear that the solution of a com-
mon problem benefits from a common approach."
Tom believes that there have been many Regional
achievements. However, two of the most noteworthy
are the Kanawha Valley Toxics Study, which measured
toxic levels in the air of West Virginia around Charles-
ton, an area with a concentration of chemical manufac-
turers, and our aggressive lead in the program to en-
force air pollution control regulations throughout the
steel industry.
Tom feels there may one day be a push on the chemical
industry similar to the steel initiatives.
Another significant change taking place is the recogni-
tion by federal environmental programs of the impact
of growth. Proper planning requires the consideration
of such factors as growth in the number of automobiles,
the lack of effective mass transit, and the constant in-
crease of new sources loading pollutants into the en-
vironment.
Our relations with the States have continuously
EPA Administrator Douglas Costle and Glenn Hanson discuss steel industry
compliance with air regulations during Costle's September, 1977 visit to Region III.
evolved. "The federal government has been issuing air
grant money to the States since 1967. At first, EPA was
viewed by some states as the 'new kid on the block'.
Our relations have matured. We now realize both EPA
and the states each have their proper niche."
EPA has important research and development, techni-
cal support, and training roles - but the States are still
on the front line in fighting pollution. Tom thinks the
need to complement one another and to work together
is as important as ever.
"At times, we've taken a hard line with the States, espe-
cially in enforcement, where we've occasionally felt the
states were 'too soft'. Now we look at each problem
with the States in an effort to determine who can best
handle them."
Having observed the changes in environmental
problems over the past two decades, Tom indicated
that the 1990s view of risk-based decisions emphasizing
pollution prevention is clearly where we have to be
going.
-------
11
Region III People
Al Morris
Director
Water Management Division
Dr. Alvin Morris, who came
to Region III in 1973, is a keen
student of management techni-
ques. He has put many of them
into practice as Assistant
Regional Administrator,
Deputy Regional Ad-
ministrator, and Water
Management Division
Director. He believes that
effective management
techniques are the key to
improve environmental
protection in Region III. His management achieve-
ments are particularly apparent in the Chesapeake
Bay Program.
"We are fairly young, both as an agency and in
terms of our staff," he responds when asked about
Region Ill's image, "perhaps that is why we are a
progressive Agency. We have new problems facing
us all the time. Those problems require new solu-
tions, which, in turn, require new ideas or new com-
binations of old ways of doing things. To meet the
challenges, we have developed a culture that puts a
premium on solving problems innovatively, rather than
by following a cookbook."
Al feels that the Region has developed many basic
management strengths over the years. "We do some very
good things," he says. "We work to promote people who
are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, capable, and committed
to the environment. We emphasize innovation and wide
participation in our mission." He admires the continuing
cooperation of our senior management, and he believes
that the participation of Regional personnel on national
task forces is very valuable and gets increased national
visibility for the Region. Finally, he says, "Region III
people really care about the environment. They want to
make the world a better place through their personal ef-
forts."
He has been with EPA since its beginning and is very
knowledgeable about the Region and its programs. He
recounts the history of the federal water program with in-
sight. "Much of our current philosophy can be traced
directly to the Public Health Service drinking water re-
quirements established in the 1950s. Our concern began
as health programs for protecting drinking water but
\
Al Morris participates in a management improvement seminar.
Gary Naumick and Patti Wisniewski inspect a drinking water treatment plant.
took on new dimensions in the 1960s. Rachel Carson's
Silent Spring sparked studies of ecology and marine life.
Beside the sewage and trash hi our rivers, it was when
forms of marine life that are also economic resources,
like fish, crabs, and oysters were being harmed that
America really took water quality seriously. Now we
must concentrate on controlling toxics and hazardous
materials in both surface and ground water. They are in-
sidious threats to our well-being and that of our children
and beyond."
"Traditionally, a lot of disease was linked to sewage
in water and particulate matter in the air," he says.
"The days are gone when we could reduce disease
by removing visible, detectable pollution from our
air and water. It is true that today's challenges
are more complex but the impact of inaction is
ominous."
He sees the problems we now have to deal with
as much harder to solve technically - the easy
parts are done. Toxics are complex and so are the
health problems associated with them, which take
years to appear and are often irreversible after
they occur.
"We need a new approach to environmental
management. Some problems are not going to be
fixable and our approach needs to be prevention-
based rather than restoration-based."
Al is optimistic about the future, based pri-
-------
Region III People
12
marily upon the expertise and dedication of our
employees. "People are looking for opportunities
to contribute. Our leadership allows, even
promotes, that type of involvement. EPA
managers listen to employees. The Agency has
subsisted on solving technical problems and we
have real experts here.
"The participative aspect of management is
part of our future. We must use the expertise of
our employees in decisions about what gets done,
and how we do it." That means big changes in the
next five to ten years. He sees Total Quality Im-
provement as the wave of the future. "It will
promote the biggest change in the workforce to
be seen in the last 50 years of management."
The Chesapeake Bay Program is typical of
many of ETA's "old" programs. "We can define
our objectives - we can understand the problem:;,
work day-to-day to fix them. It is easier to relate
to a geographical area. There still hasn't been an overall
water quality improvement in the Bay. It is still declining
but we have had an impact. There has been a 25% reduc-
tion in phosphate, due directly to the state bans on phos-
phate detergents in the 1980s."
The biggest success in the Bay Program is not the
science but, rather, public administration. Originally,
the states were worried about their own self-interests.
Now they understand that their own best-interests are
served by working together for the restoration and
protection of the Bay. "The states will have to continue
to work together if these kinds of improvements are to
continue. None will benefit unless all cooperate,"
"During the first 20 years," says Al, "we've gone from
situation where EPA did everything and had all i;he
resources and most of the competent staff. Now, our
EPA Region Ill's Construction Grants Program has processed applications from a wide variety
of municipalities, from tiny Hepzibati, W. Va. (1) to Philadelphia, Pa. (r).
State Dignitaries were on hand for the Chesapeake Bay grant ceremony
with Region Ill's Jack Schramm and Leonard Mangiarcma m 1977,
the first year of the comprehensive study.
States have the budgets, staff competency, scientific and
managerial capabilities to have a real beneficial effect
now."
He sees wastewater construction grants as a good ex-
ample. With the phase-in of the State Revolving Loans,
the States will control how wastewater projects are
funded.
However, as we have seen time and again, State delega-
tion is a more difficult way to do things. "It is definitely
easier to do it yourself than to oversee someone else
doing something. We have a lot of people here who are
used to being doers and it is a bit frustrating for them."
Al is currently Acting Deputy Regional Administrator.
j While in that position, he will be expanding some of his
management vision throughout the Regional office. He
wants to develop the idea of empowering the staff to im-
prove the way they
are able to do their
jobs, using the tools of
Total Quality Im-
provement; to en-
hance the ability to
make environmental
improvements
through integrated en-
vironmental analysis,
enforcement and com-
pliance; and expand-
ing the uses of
computer technology
like the Geographic
Information System to
graphically illustrate
present conditions
and future impacts for
both the public and
Congress.
-------
Region HI People
13
Marcia Mulkey
Regional Counsel
Marcia Mulkey, who has been
Regional Counsel since 1989,
came here five years ago from
Headquarters. She is an acute
observer of the enforcement
scene, a tough negotiator, and
a nice person.
Looking back on her years at
EPA, she notes, "Some things
haven't changed much. We're
still dealing with the
same steel companies,
the same parties," Marcia
said. Many things, however, have changed. "There
are many new kinds of cases now, like enforcement
of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-
to-Know Act and cases involving asbestos in
schools and Superfund enforcement."
Like most people in the Regional office, Marcia
sees that many issues are going to require much
more effort before they're solved. "There are still
many air pollution problems," she notes.
"Wetlands cases are on the rise. There is a shift
toward administrative enforcement under the
Clean Water Act. Criminal enforcement has
soared. Much of the increase in enforcement has
been in the administrative area but we haven't de-
emphasized judicial actions, either. We are a
regulatory enforcement agency. Our fundamental
business has always been, and will always be, regulation
and enforcement."
Marcia points out that the Regions are the enforcement
arm of the EPA. "We have always been enforcement-
oriented. Now, however, the states are getting more in-
volved in formal, deterrence-based enforcement." While
she points out that states have always been enforcement-
minded, Marcia has noticed that their capacities for the
complex, formal enforcement required today have in-
creased. "There is more state legislation being intro-
duced all the time, too," she continues. "The States
watch us. Our experience is very valuable to them."
What other changes has Marcia witnessed? "We've
grown. The fact that we're bigger has affected the way
we do things. We're more structured, more accountable
now." Marcia points to the level of dialogue with head-
quarters, which, she adds, has matured. The old ten-
sions have eased.
Our workforce has also matured, she contends, and has
Marcia Mulkey and former Regional Counsel Bruce Diamond discuss the
nany complex legal issues surrounding an environmental enforcement case.
grown professionally in 20 years. "Our approach has
worked," she says, "it's what has put us ahead of the rest
of the world. However, we have to get smarter, learn to
use our tools better."
How will we do that? "The biggest thing to look at in the
future will be to what extent our lifestyles will change,
and what impact those changes will have on pol-
lution." Marcia feels that waste minimization
will become more and more important. "We
can't abandon our usual command and control
approach we must continue to place limits on
businesses and individuals but cooperation
among all aspects of society will have an impact
on our ultimate success."
Another improvement Marcia points to is
federal facility compliance. "Federal facilities
have improved, particularly the Department of
Defense." Why? "They have the money.
Federal facility improvement is partly a function
of funding and regulatory will. Besides, com-
munities just won't stand for environmental ir-
responsibility anymore, from the government or
anyone else."
Neil Wise and Mike Vaccaro with former paralegal Ann Marvel,
nicknamed "Ann Marvelous" for her helpfulness.
-------
Region m People
14
Liability Act, or Superfund, became law. Tom, who
received responsibility for implementing the program in
the Region, witnessed a change in the way the country
perceived environmental problems. Love Canal and
Times Beach, which drew national attention, caused resi-
dents living near Superfund sites to fear that their local
site would be the next national catastrophe.
According to Tom, Region III was at the fore in learning
how best to work with local communities. "Our Com-
Tom Voltaggio
Acting Director
Hazardous Waste Management Division
Superfund wasn't even in exist-
ence when Tom Voltaggio
began his EPA career in 1971.
His first nine years at EPA
were
spent in
water and
air enfor-
cement, _
which ^-r .
helped cul-
tivate the
well-
rounded knowledge and manage-
ment skills essential to effectively -$,:;
direct the Region's largest Division. ;<;
Today, nobody in Region III knows
more about Superfund than Tom.
Tom's road to the Region HI
HWMD front office began as an en-
gineer in Texas in the Region VI
permit program for discharging into
waterways. Later he moved to
Chicago to head the Region V Tom Voltaggio leads a management training session.
NEPA Compliance program and
then to become Chief pf the Engineering Section, doing munity Relations and Superfund staffs met with citizen
air enforcement. He came to Philadelphia in 1977 as groups early on to inform them and listen to their con-
Chief of the Air Enforcement Branch. In 1980, the Com- cerns. We have always welcomed citizen input."
prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Moreover, Region Ill's Superfund program has always
been a national leader and
is often cited as an ex-
ample for other areas. "We
have the highest number
of site cleanups and some
of the most innovative
remedial action methods,"
Tom says.
Public interest in environ-
mental issues began in the
early 1970s and has con-
tinued to increase.
"People were not used to
having federal officials
meet with them and offer
to help," recalls Tom. "In
some cases, people actual-
ly blamed EPA for con-
tamination because we
were the only ones as-
sociated with the site."
Steve Jarvela and Jim Guntle examine Toxic Release Inventory data on the computer while Superfund saw its first
Gertrude Harmon looks for the location on the map. reauthonzation in 1986
-------
Region III People
15
and Tom noted how it changed the way EPA conducts
business. "The law has had a major impact on the way
we have to clean up sites now. We can't simply excavate
a site and take the refuse to an approved facility any
more. The
market for
innovative
technology
has ex-
panded
tremen-
dously as a
result of
that and
even chemi-
cal com-
panies are
researching
new ways to
treat their
waste."
One area
that Tom
sees as cru-
cial in
Region III
is enforce-
ment.
"Over the years, we've encouraged a shift from using Su-
perfund money first to clean up sites to making respon-
sible parties pay early on. In the next few years,
hopefully, industrial operations will be conducted in an
environmentally sensitive manner. For now, though, we
need a
strong stand
on en-
forcement."
The issues
of waste
manage-
ment and
disposal af-
fects in-
Steve Wassersug briefs Administrator Reilly and Regional Admin
Publicker Superfund site in Philadelphia.
dustry, all levels of government, and the public. In the
coming decade, Region Ill's RCRA program is con-
centrating more on corrective action at former disposal
sites and hazardous waste facilities and enforcement of
hazardous
waste
management
regulations.
Also, just as
Superfund
has always
actively ad-
dressed the
concerns of
communities
in the
decision-
making
process,
RCRA now
includes re-
quirements
for com-
munity invol-
vement and
education.
Finally, Tom
points to pol-
lution prevention as the wave of the future. "Pollution
prevention and recycling are examples of ways in which
people are changing their thinking. Not only EPA but in-
dustry and local governments are researching ways to
curtail practices that were not conducive to pollution
prevention
and making
way for
more en-
vironmental-
ly sound
choices."
ional Administrator Erickson on the
Mary Anne Daly oversees contractor work at one of over ISO hazardous waste Superfund sites in Region III.
-------
16
Region III People
Bill Wisniewski
Assistant Regional Administrator
Bill Wisniewski has been with
Region III since 1976, first
with the Management Division.
When EPA initiated a move to
create Assistant Regional Ad-
ministrators for Policy and
Management, Bill was chosen.
"Wiz," as he is known around
the Regional Office, presides
over a somewhat "invisible"
domain. They provide the sup-
port services, unseen by the
public, that keep the Region running smoothly and
enable the rest of the Region's employees to do their
jobs. His purview includes payroll, contracting, human
resources, information services, travel, supplies, mail and
other services without which the Region's many olher
functions and activities would grind to a halt.
Bill has witnessed many changes in Regional operations
but a common thread runs through all of them. "Both
the size and complexity of probably all of our pro-ams
have grown," he says. The big difference? "Up until the
mid-1980s, we were a small Agency, quite inform;il -
everybody knew everyone, there was a lot of personal
communication. Things were less structured and formal.
However, as we grew, programs had to become more
structured, if only because of the sheer number of
employees."
In the early days,
many activities
were done manual-
ly and things
could often be
done based on
one person's per-
sonal knowledge.
For example, bills
could be
processed by one
person, who could
also authorize pay-
ment. Travel
could be manually
done by a part-
time person when
there were only a
few hundred
people. There
were no travel
agents. People
travelled with a
"blue card" that
The Office of Policy and Management ensures that the Region keeps up with advances in office
technology by purchasing equipment like electric file retrievers and computers.
What was 9nce the Region III legal library has expanded into a
full-service Information Resource Center where Librarian
Diane McCreary can help visitors find materials in print as well
as on computer databases and microfiche. Attorney Jim Baker
researches a case while Joyce Baker offers assistance.
they used for transportation. Paychecks were only dis-
tributed in the office no mailing, no direct deposit.
"Things were very basic through the 1970s," he sums up.
"We didn't even have a computer room until the early
1980s. We did have calculators and electric typewriters,
though. I remember when memory typewriters were a
big thing."
Bill recalls other examples from the Agency's
first decade.
"In the 1970s,"
he says, "there
was no Human
Resources
Program, only
a basic person-
nel office. All
training was
done through
the Office of
Personnel
Management.
There were no
management
retreats, no
EPA Institute,
no Health
Unit Or Fit-
ness Center,
no FWP, no
SAC, WISE,
BEPAC, or
HEPAC. The
-------
Region III People
17
Graduates of Temple University Environmental Studies Program, a human resources
initiative to improve the career potential of administrative staff.
only special emphasis group for years was the EEO
Council. When I started with EPA, there were no faxes,
E-mail, or even express mail. Now we're surrounded
with technology." He goes on, however, to say that we're
not nearly state-of-the-art, despite the many obvious im-
provements he has seen.
He credits two events as being responsible for the chan-
ges that have taken place the advent of Superfund in
Bill Wisniewski proudly shows off the Fitness Center to Rob Cahill from EPA
Headquarters while Tom Maslany, Steve Wassersug, Al Morris, Abe Ferdas,
Ken Kryszczun and Mary Tilghman watch a demonstration of the equipment.
1980 and the 1984 move from
the Curtis Building. "Super-
fund helped bring the other
programs along," he says. "It
had a big impact on office
technology and grades
throughout the region. Super-
fund set a precedent that
definitely carried on to other
programs." About the move
to 841 Chestnut Street, Bill
says, "The Curtis Building was
famous for fragmented of-
fices. It was old and space
was very broken up. Space is
still a huge problem. There is
never enough but we're a long
way from the green army
desks and tile floors of the
Curtis Building."
"In my capacity as Assistant
Regional Administrator," he says, "I see two principal
goals for the future - to improve and increase working
space so that every employee has optimal working condi-
tions and to enhance office automation to the point
where there is a
computer on every
desk."
"Policy and
Management
is now getting
well-deserved
respect. The
Regional staff
realizes how
important sup-
port services
are to then-
ability to do
their jobs.
However,
there has also
been a big
change in the orientation of our support people.
We're much more oriented toward customer service.
It is an attitude we've worked hard to achieve." Bill is
proud of the job his people have done but says, "It's
important to me that my people are recognized.
Sometimes the best recognition is simply a thank you
or a 'job well done' from our customers."
Currently, Bill is Acting Director of the Water
Management Division.
Vicki Binetti leads a management training session.
-------
18
Region III People
Elaine Wright
Director
Office of External Affairs
When Elaine Wright par-
ticipated, as a college student,
in Earth Day in 1970, she had
no idea what significance that
day would have on the nation
or herself. "I failed to see how
it differed from other
springtime activities on cam-
pus supporting ZPG or
demonstrating against the Viet-
nam War," she says.
A year later, as a graduate stu-
dent at the University of Vir-
ginia, Elaine never noticed the nondescript brick build-
ings across from the Barracks Road Shopping Center in
Charlottesville. She did not realize then how much of
her life would become involved with the brand new or-
ganization that set up shop there. "After all, thoss were
the days when we trusted neither the government nor
anyone over 30. Now many of us at EPA are both."
Ten years later as Personnel Officer for EPA Region III,
Elaine was responsible for dismantling the extern al af-
fairs organization called OIRPA. She implemenl ed the
reorganization which established the Office of Public Af-
fairs and the Office of Congressional and Inter-
governmental Relations as separate groups. It was
another ironic twist of fate that Elaine was asked, in
January 1990, to reunite the two into the Office of Exter-
nal Affairs and assume the position of Director. Sud-
denly, she was thrust from the job of managing the
Regional budget, staffing and resources as Deputy Assis-
tant Regional Administrator to the spotlight of
news media, Congressional and State issues.
It was on-the-job training at an accelerated
pace. The first week in the new position it
rained heavily. "As Deputy ARA, rain never
really impacted me. But in this new job, I saw
my career almost float down the Shenandoah
River with the big black plug at Avtex when the
Senators, Congressmen and press began to call
and the Regional Administrator looked to me
to handle it," Elaine says.
Avtex was followed quickly by the Buckeye
Oil Spill. Janet Viniski, the Director of Public
Affairs, gave Elaine advice based on years of
media experience. "Oil spills always occur on
Sundays and usually occur in Pittsburgh," Janet
said. "She was right," says Elaine. "Another oil
spill followed shortly on a Sunday in Pittsburgh.'
Larry Teller, the Director of the Office of
Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations,
introduced Elaine to the world of Congressional staffers
and State Secretaries. Water Quality Standards, non-im-
plementation suits, wetlands and Superfund sites always
keep those relations exciting.
In the spring of 1990, the planning for Earth Week
festivities was followed quickly by organizing and hosting
the first environmental Town Meeting with EPA Ad-
ministrator Reilly. Elaine says, "Planning for that event
was a baptism of fire. I had to coordinate with many dif-
ferent people in Headquarters, negotiate with citizen ac-
tion groups, deal with the media and manage logistics. It
was a great way to learn many of the facets of External
Affairs all at once."
Meanwhile, there was the challenge of reuniting Public
Affairs with Congressional and Intergovernmental
Liaison into one management unit after nearly eight
years of separation. "The job was made easier because
the people were so good. They are all professionals in
their jobs, whether State Liaison Officers or Public Af-
fairs Specialists, the Center for Environmental Learning
or the great secretarial staff. Each one was cooperative
and helpful, whether handling FOIAs or community rela-
tions," Elaine says.
The first Public Affairs Director was Jim Boyer in Char-
lottesville. He decided not to follow the new Region III
contingent north to Philadelphia but instead went west
to become the Public Affairs Officer in EPA Region
VIII in Denver.
Mark Silverman was the first Public Affairs Officer in
Philadelphia. He was followed by Gary Brooter and
Diane Margenau.
In 1978, the Office of Intergovernmental Relations and
Public Awareness (OIRPA) was formed, headed by Nick
DeBenedictis, and, then, George Pence. OIRPA pulled
together over 50 people from Public Affairs, Congres-
Janet Viniski, Janice Donlon, Evelyn MacKnight and Richard Kampf
sort pictures for the Twentieth Anniversary book.
-------
Region in People
19
sional and Intergovernmental Relations, the Environ-
mental Impact Branch and a variety of special positions
such as Federal Regional Council and the River Basin
Commission liaison. Sandi Otskivi was Director of
Public Affairs while Bob Taylor handled intergovernmen-
tal dudes.
As part of OIRPA, State Program Officers, who had
formerly had offices in the State Capitok, returned to
the Regional Office as State Liaison Officers. Their role
continued to be enhancing State relations and negotiat-
ing a comprehensive State/EPA agreement. Big issues
they handled included the construction of the
Washington, D.C. (Blue Plains) and Philadelphia
municipal wastewater treatment plants, the Chesapeake
Bay Study, air pollution control of the steel and electric
utility industries, ending Philadelphia's dumping of
sewage sludge into the ocean, Three Mile Island, and
hazardous waste pouring into the Susquehanna River
from the Butler Mine Tunnel. As the 1970s drew to an
end, at downturn in the economy was strengthening
public doubt about the need for expensive pollution con-
trol equipment. Steel-
workers, miners and farmers
pointed accusing fingers at
EPA over layoffs. Public and
Congressional Affairs tried
to convince the public it was
worth the cost to clean up the
environment.
While public concern over
air and water quality issues
seemed to be abating, inter-
est in toxics and hazardous
waste was growing. By the
end of 1980, External Affairs
people were explaining the
new hazardous waste manage-
ment regulations, Ronald Reagan was elected President
and the Superfund hazardous waste cleanup bill was
passed. Within months, Public Affairs began going to Su-
perfund sites, knocking on doors, holding public meet-
ings, organizing press conferences and briefing local
officials on this new program and the hazard in their
communities.
During the controversial days of 19811983, reporters
grilled the Regional Press Office on every issue, looking
for a scoop on every story. One reporter made a fuss
over the approval of imported leather furniture for a
sewage treatment plant. The truth was that the review-
ing engineer passed over that item because his expertise
was in tanks and pipes, not furniture. A headline blared
"ENVIRONMENTAL POISONING AGENCY," when it
was revealed that one of our waste haulers was convicted
of illegal dumping. A women called reporters complain-
ing that EPA was doing nothing about toxics going into
her well. Her own septic tank turned out to be the
culprit.
Greene Jones, Ted Erickson, Elaine Wrieht and Bill Wisniewski
participate in the Region III Earth Day 1990 Cleanup/Greenup
at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.
OIRPA was disbanded in 1982, moving the Environ-
mental Impact Branch into the Management Division,
and creating two separate Congressional and Public Af-
fairs offices headed by Dick Pastor and George
Bochanski, respectively.
Bill Ruckelshaus returned to EPA in 1983. Congress
strengthened the public involvement requirements in the
1984 HSWA amendments and the 1986 Superfund
amendments. Outreach was no longer just a good idea,
public meetings to obtain comments on cleanup
decisions at Superfund sites were mandatory.
In the mid-1980s, EPA began to take a hard look at the
way it communicates. For example, the public panic
caused by the 1983 announcement about the car-
cinogenicity of the widely-used pesticide EDB generated
a large-scale effort to improve the Agency's communica-
tions, particularly on risk. Ironically, a few years later,
EPA was accused of downplaying the threat of the pes-
ticide ALAR, which was used on many apples and
caused a similar panic. More recently, EPA has been ac-
cused of exacerbating the risk of asbestos exposure by
not adequately warning the
public about the hazards of
improper removal.
"In the future," says Elaine,
"balanced risk communica-
tion will continue to be a chal-
lenge for our office as we
move through EPA's third
decade."
In 1987, the Center for En-
vironmental Learning was
born in Region III. Its goals
are to integrate Environmen-
tal Education Programs into
EPA's organization, to ex-
pand outlets for environmen-
tal issues, to excite young people about careers in en-
vironmental management, and to help future generations
avoid the same mistakes through knowledge of pollution
prevention and the impact of their individual actions.
Today, there is a heightened awareness of the value of
protecting the environment. Elementary schools are
weaving "environmentalism" throughout their curricula.
Corporations are issuing codes of environmental ethics.
A new Clean Air Act is nearly hi place with Pollution
Prevention and Environmental Education legislation
hopefully not far behind.
The impact of Region III now extends beyond the
mid-Atlantic states as we send and host delegations to
many countries around the world.
"On the eve of the 20th birthday of EPA, we can see
we have all come a long way from Charlottesville, Vir-
ginia and the original Earth Day. But we also have a
long way to go. I hope in 20 years," says Elaine, "we will
be just as proud of what we in Region III have ac-
complished as we are today."
-------
20
Region III People
Region Ill's Employees
Ken Kryszczun "The most exciting
thing to me in spending 17 of the first
20 years with EPA was growing with
the agency starting as a young
scientist and tackling environmental
problems which had never been ad-
dressed before, and being with the
Agency as it grew from a couple of
hundred employees to around 900 in
the Region III office."
Andrew Uricheck "EPA Region III
was created in September, 1971. We
moved into temporary space which
changed frequently, with little furni-
ture and no phones. For months, we
shared desks and telephones and felt
that we were some M*A*S*H unit on
the front lines of the pollution war. It
was great! We couldn't wait to get to
work."
Robin Cole
"I've been with
EPA since
1983. During
my seven years I
have had the op-
portunity to
work with
people who
were caring,
supportive and
ambitious. Al-
though I have a
technical back-
ground, I was
able to propose
and help develop a human resources
project (Environmental Studies
Program) and design an Environmen-
tal coloring book which was, and will
continue to be, used for Outreach ac-
tivities. EPA allows you the oppor-
tunity to use your talents to help
make a difference!"
Howard Billman "EPA Region III
has gathered the most dedicated and
intelligent young people throughout
the ten regions of the Agency. The
credit is largely due to our excellent
management team and its ability to
recruit the finest employees the
country has to offer. But the willing-
ness of these gifted young men and
women to serve in the environmental
cause speaks well of the Agency's mis-
sion too. It was Region Ill's leader-
ship in the field that initially attracted
our excellent staff, and Region Ill's
unceasing aim for higher standards of
excellent that continues to attract
the best into it's growing ranks."
Steven J. Donohue "I have always
been interested
in life sciences
and natural his-
tory. After
graduating col-
lege, I con-
templated a
career with
EPA bui: my
career path led
in a different
direction. Now,
ten years later,
with experience
in research and
consulting, I
find myself at
EPA. Reflecting on my first year at
Region III, I have found it profes-
sionally challenging and interesting,
glad Region III saw a star and
grabbed her!"
H.P. Brubaker "None of my favorite
Former Region III Administrator Jack Schramm presents the first
Glen Witmer Award to Dennis Carney. Regional Employees select
the winner annually in honor of a young, dedicated EPA
engineer who died of cancer at an early age.
stories about Region III are printable
here. The most enduring and continu-
ing strength of EPA is the number of
people who want to come to work
here, even though they know they are
not good bureaucrats, because they
believe in the Agency and its mission.
From Ed Furia and Smith Freeman
right down through , (you fill in
your own favorite), Region III has
seen a lot of dedicated characters rest
here awhile and move on."
Robert Thomson "I hope the Agency
can accomplish as much in the next
20 years as it has done in the past 20.
Let's look to EPA - 20 and forward!"
Iz Milner, Dan Snyder, Dan Sweeney, Charlie Jones and
Dale Wismer recall the early years at EPA.
and personally a pleasant and fulfill-
ing place to work."
Gerallyn Vails 'I'm certainly no 20-
year veteran,
but I do remem-
ber in 1985
when this
'stranger' from
the Academy of
Natural Scien-
ces came to
work with us on
the Chesapeake
Bay Projp-am.
Vicki BLaetti
turned out to
be simply a
super person.
As the yiiars
have passed,
we've each gone on to different
programs, but now she's been Acting
WMD Deputy Director! Whew!
Vicki, I'm proud of you! And I'm
Andrea Parker "Late one afternoon,
shortly after the big Alaska oil spill, a
new receptionist, apparently unsure
of what Information Resources
means in the context of the Agency,
forwarded a call to IRMB. I
The Employees' Association sponsors many activities. Pictured is the En-
dangered Species Softball team. Back: Bob Davis, Jim Baker, Jim Miller, Joe
Smitn, Francisco Barba, Jim Gouvas and Dennis Carney. Front: Lorie Acker,
Jim Heenehan, Bill Hagel, Bob Koroncai, Gary Gross and Ray Germann.
answered. It sounded like a high
school student. He asked what I was
doing about the oil spill in Alaska."
Dawn A. loven "Twenty years ago,
-------
Region III People
21
scores of environmentally-conscious
individuals with unsurpassed dedica-
tion joined forces to accomplish the
formidable task of achieving a clean,
healthy environment. Although some
of the mission has been realized, in
the future, EPA must encourage
tough environmental laws, emphasize
recycling, and, concomitantly with
other government agencies, continue
to increase public awareness of local
and global issues, including acid rain
and deforestation. All people must
assume responsibility for protecting
our planet from further devastation;
the burden of explicitly conveying this
message is one that the Agency must
bear."
Joan Goodls "I'm new to EPA but I
have been working for the U.S.
Government for over 20 years. In all
those years I have not witnessed the
spirit and sense of purpose that are so
evident here at EPA. It is exciting to
work for and with such a committed,
bright, and vital group of people. It's
like the Peace Corps in the 60's."
Amy Barnett "Being in Public Af-
fairs, I have found that the most im-
portant skill I have is effective
communication. The public is some-
times upset about our decisions, but,
no matter what those decisions are,
they are always upset if they are not
included in the information loop if
they don't hear about the choices and
are able to
offer their
opinions."
Daniel
Ryan "In
1970, when
EPA was
founded,
we meas-
ured con-
taminants
in the parts-
per-million.
Now we
can detect
pollution in
the parts-
per-trillion
range. Pretty soon we'll determine
that everything is contaminated. Talk
about job security!"
Jeffrey J. Burke "Region III has been
looked upon as an example of excel-
lence by Headquarters and the other
Regions. I look forward to continu-
ing that tradition."
Jon Capacasa "As lead Technical
Contact for the Region in the first
civil action involving the City of
Philadelphia wastewater pollution
(1977-78), I was involved in many
negotiations.
It has been ex-
tremely gratify-
ing, though, to
see wastewater
treatment
plants built
and major im-
provements in
the quality of
the Delaware
River. The
riverfront is
now a hotbed
of recreational
and economic
activity."
Mikal Shabazz "It is only by God's
grace that we have been given the
gifts of Me and provided with all the
resources to maintain and develop it.
Therefore, it behooves us to show our
Air.Toxics and Radiation Management Division employees celebrate
Earth Day 1990 by cleaning up Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.
Rick Rogers "About the time you be-
come frustrated to the hilt with red
tape and paperwork, a call comes
through from a citizen who has gotten
the royal run-around from everyone
else. You're able to help them inter-
pret their problem or send them in
the right direction. The appreciation
you receive from these calls can carry
you through the day or week. It's a
great reason to be here."
Steve Copeland "On one of my pre-
vious jobs, I was inspecting coke
plants at iron and steels mills for air
Region HI employees are on their feet to recognize their fellow
workers' achievements at the annual awards ceremony.
pollution. A veteran coke worker
came up to me and said, in between
coughing his lungs off, 'What are you
doing here trying to take my job
from me? I've been breathing this air
for 25 years and I'm still here!' The
man died 3 months after retirement
of lung cancer."
gratitude and appreciation to our
benefactor by doing everything we
can to the utmost of our ability in
protecting our natural resources from
every kind of pollution so that we and
our successors can get the maximum
benefit that life has to offer."
Larry Teller "This is from the 'some
day, with luck, we'll laugh about it'
department. On an unhappy Friday
morning in 1978, Dr. Al Morris, then
Deputy Regional Administrator, met
with several dozen of us who faced
substantial demotions based on a mas-
sive desk audit by the Civil Service
Commission. After Dr. Morris ex-
plained what faced us and EPA, Dick
Pastor asked what we should do.
Without hesitation, Dr. Morris
replied, 'Do your jobs!' How right he
was."
Janet Viniski "My fondest memories
over the past ten years at EPA are,
ironically, of 16-hour days at Super-
fund emergency sites. There was an
esprit de corps that was hard to match.
Memories also will stay with me of
being pelted by questions from
reporters as well as by a friendly fire
of pebbles in the ever-present out-
house. Whenever I hear the song 'On
the Road Again', I think of Tom Mas-
sey, Phil Retallick, Bob Caron, Dr.
Joe, Bucky Walters, and all of the
others who worked so hard on-site
but always had time to answer my end-
less questions."
-------
22
Region HI Heritage
EdFuria(1972-73)
Ed Furia could not be reached for comment. However,
upon his resignation on February 13,1973, he had the fol-
lowing words for Region HI employees:
"In the year and a half I have served as Regional Ad-
ministrator, I have witnessed some remarkable changes
in this organization. From our chaotic beginnings on the
6th Floor [of the Curtis Building], we have moved twice,
we have almost doubled in size; we have achieved the
programmed objectives of the Agency while cleaning up
the largest (and wnprogrammed) inland oil spill iri
United States history while responding to the environ-
mental challenges presented by the greatest natural dis-
aster in United States history Hurricane Agnes;; we
have established that this Region of the EPA takes its
job seriously and that it will enforce the laws to insure
that environmental quality will be achieved; we have
slowly begun to understand the importance of integrat-
ing our efforts to solve environmental problems so that
the solution of one problem does not produce another."
"Little further need exists for EPA to 'prove itself to
older state bureaucracies, industry or to the geneial
public. Bui: in the future, your job must be to hold the
ground we've gained and to gain more. To do this,
you will have to continue to set an example of excellence
for all to follow.
"Our jobs are important because the public ejects us to
protect their health and their planet. This environmental
protection business demands our full committment."
DanSnyder(1973-77)
"Twenty years ago today (it seems like yesterday), as a
staff counsel on Capitol Hill I was working on environ-
mental legislation and discussing the details of the: Execu-
tive Order that created EPA. Nobody knew what EPA
was or should be then; only that
we had to do something about
the soot-blackened hazy skies
and brown rivers that had come
to characterize industrialized
America. The promise of
Earth Day 1970 had to be given
form and substance.
"EPA was blessed, and has lar-
gely been blessed, with excel-
lent leadership at the top. I
worked for two of the best. Bill
Ruckelshaus, with his self-
deprecating sense of humor
and tremendous leadership; Russ Train, with his dry, ur-
bane wit and unflinching sense of integrity even in the
face of almost unbearable White House and Congres-
sional pressure.
"With the failure of the War on Poverty's Community
Action Agency firmly in mind we set out to create an
agency like no other that had gone before:
an Agency that was not afraid to use the media to
fight its battles and educate the public an Agen-
cy staffed by the best technical professionals
of. their era who bring a sense of mission to their
jobs an Agency with the integrity to pursue
criminal enforcement against the largest, most
powerful corporate violators who are not afraid to
use political pressure an Agency that let its top
talent mature and either form the backbone of its
programs or go on to make a major contribution
in their fields (Jim Self, Steve Wassersug, Eileen
Glenn, Nick deBenedictis, Jim Manwaring, Sue
Legro, Tom Maslany, Greene Jones, Abe Ferdas,
Bob Mitkus, Maureen Carol Graham, Al Morris,
Al Montague, Bernie Turlinksi, Howard Heim, to
name only a very few) an Agency where techni-
cal expertise and hard work was rewarded with
good working conditions and international recog-
nition.
"Since 1977, when I resigned as Regional Administrator,
the Agency has survived Presidential attempts to destroy
it and grown to be a major force in executive branch
policy making. I have practiced environmental law, run
an energy company in the Rocky Mountain West, and
founded two environmental companies. As an environ-
mental lawyer, I have dealt with a wide range of environ-
mental issues.
"My avocation and passion remains the conservation of
our land resources. As the General Partner of Buck and
Doe Associates, I raised the money to preserve the 5300
acre King Ranch tract in Western Chester County. The
Phantom Canyon ranch project in Colorado employed a
similar preservations concept.
"My environmental career has given me interesting
travel, a great sense of job satisfaction, a constant range
of exciting problems to resolve, and friendship with three
generations of outstanding conservationists like Russ
Train, Frank Masland of the National Park Commission,
Pat Noonan of the Nature Conservancy, the late Ralph
Abele, former director of the Pennsylvania Fish Commis-
sion, Peter Duncan, the head of the Game Commission,
and others.
"The next 20 years for EPA will be tougher than the last.
Budget pressures and the need to rebuild U.S. competi-
tiveness in the post-Cold War marketplace means the
Agency will have to justify the resources it is requesting.
It must also deliver on its promise of a healthy environ-
ment to an increasingly impatient public. If the Agency
is to pursue this mission, it must avoid easy quick fix solu-
tions.
"EPA has always had the talent to make a major impact.
This talent must be effectively managed if the Agency is
to realize its potential."
-------
Region HI Heritage
23
Jack Schramm (1977 - 81)
'"Mark my words, someday you'll say these were the
good old days!' I wanted us to remember, in that
farewell, our sense of purpose and camaraderie as we
struggle to improve the environment during tough times.
Memories crowd back:
Al Morris intoning,
'Excellence Is Its Own Re-
ward' Steve Wassersug
frustrated over Westvaco
and triumphant in bringing
home the Allegheny Coun-
ty SIP Greene Jones
carefully scattering POTW
dollars and juggling
grenades from Hizzoner,
the contentious D.C. in-
frastructure crowd, and the
Chesapeake Bay watermen Sheldon Novick
trying to settle regional jitters following Three
Mile Island the telephone growing out of a De-
Benedictis ear the first drumbeats over acid
rain, the struggle over I & M, steel enforcement;
what we found in everyone's drinking water; and
the birth of RCRA and CERCLA. Exciting
times! Finally, there was Stan Laskowski explor-
ing the Volcanus' availability to incinerate our
stockpiled James River kepone. Instead, I caught
the Waste Management ship (after President
Carter's ship of state ran aground!) and sailed
with her in sometime hostile D.C. waters for eight
years thereafter before moving into environ-
mental consulting last year.
"I will never forget my EPA colleagues and friends
with whom I was privileged to serve for four very exciting
years.
"Congratulations, EPA, on proudly reaching your
Twentieth!"
Pete Bibko (1981-83)
Tom Eichler (1983 - 85)
Peter Bibko is sworn in as Regional Administrator.
"I had the honor of being appointed by Bill Ruckelshaus
as Region III Administrator in July 1983, at a time when
the Agency was about to make a giant rebound. It was a
great privilege to have the opportunity to see that Region
HI was a leader in the restora-
tion in public confidence in
EPA. The outstanding profes-
sional staff in the Region was
more than ready for the
Administrator's commitment to
delegation and Regional decis-
ion making. Priority areas in-
cluded turning the Chesapeake
Bay project into long-term im-
plementation in partnership
with the States and other
federal agencies. This included
the Bay Conference and Agree-
ment signed by the three Bay-State Governors, the
Mayor of DC, and the Administrator; accompanying the
Administrator to the Pentagon for signature of the EPA-
DOD agreement on bringing 40 Bay defense estab-
lishments into compliance with Bay goals; accompanying
the Administrator to a major Bay-protection bill signing
in Maryland with Governor Hughes, and a tour of lower
Bay issues with Governor Robb. With the Administra-
tor's leadership, and some help from the President,
everyone wanted to get into the act, and we gave to all
meaningful roles to play on a unique and very complex
project.
"We also got our hazardous waste program into high
gear, with a streamlined organization and an influx of
new staff. Governor Dick Thornburgh joined us for a
joint press conference to announce speed-up of Super-
fund site development through a joint EPA-Pennsylvania
partnership. Delaware Governor DuPont joined us for
an announcement of the first state delegation to operate
the RCRA hazardous waste 'cradle to grave' permitting
program, a national first.
"Stepped up law enforcement on all fronts from asbestos
to volatile organics was highlighted by unprecedented,
and successful, suits against the District of Columbia for
serious water and air emissions failures. Our new multi-
media inspection team matured just hi time to handle the
American Cyanamid issues at Institute, W. Va. in the
wake of the Bhopal disaster. Attention to enhancing the
quality of scientific judgement, Regional expertise on
coastal issues, and affirmative action hiring were all
priorities which enhanced the leadership role of
Region III.
"The Special Achievement Award which I received from
the Administrator in January, 1985 was a tribute to the
men and women who are the Region III team."
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24
Region HI Heritage
Jim Self (1985-88)
"Last April 22 Earth Day 1990 saw me and my two
little girls in Fairmount Park. There was a lot to sees, in-
cluding some EPA Region III people staffing a booth.
When Lauren, who would turn five shortly, was asked
that evening what she had liked most, it turned out to be
the large number and variety
of trash cans. 'There were
forty-two-fifteen!' she said.
This kid knows how to get
down to basics.
"I remember the first Earth
Day. The City of Pittsburgh
was surprised by the number
of people who showed up at
Shenley Park and you
guessed it the trash czms
were immediately over-
whelmed and the mess was
enormous. The 20 years between Earth Days, the same
20 years of EPA's existence, have seen incredible
change. When I served as one of Steve Wassersug's
Branch Chiefs in 1975, the whole Region numbered a
few hundred. When I returned in 1985, Steve was still
there (a bit more gray) but in charge of a single Division
that size, enforcing laws we hadn't even heard of a
decade before. Some even more important changes have
occurred. Environmentalism has clearly gone
mainstream.
Consider:
"Last year I met a man who was about to retire as
maintenance manager at a large chemical plant.
He had little formal education, but possessed a
keen eye for changes among his own work force.
Ten years ago, he said, his people felt this
'environmental stuff was a bother. 'But now, we
agree with it, even the parts we can't understand!'
"Last June the Annual Hazmat exhibition in At-
lantic City featured display booths for over 1,000
environmental businesses. These companies
(most of them, anyway) are making money by solv-
ing problems not heard of in 1970.
"When I joined Dechert, Price & Rhoads in
January 1989,1 discovered that nearly half of the
work of our Environmental Service Group in-
volved no contact at all with regulatory agencies.
Private transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions
and loans now involve a heavy dose of environ-
mental lawyering. In large corporations,
managers at all levels are factoring environmental
considerations into their decisions.
"It's hard to say what my two kids will see on Earth Day
2010. There may still be "forty-two-fifteen" trash cans
and I'm sure there will still be an EPA. What is equally
clear, if the past 20 years is any clue, is that environmen-
tal concerns will have changed hi ways we cannot im-
agine. In any event, like most of you, I look forward to
being a part of it all.
"Meanwhile, EPA, Happy Twentieth Birthday!"
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Region HI Heritage
25
Former Employees
Joseph M. Manko
Manko, Gold & Katcher
"My years at EPA were an oasis in
a legal desert. Before, I was a
securities lawyer and, since, I have
been engaged in the private prac-
tice of environmental law. They
were the 'good old days' when the
RA, DRA, and I, as Regional
Counsel, could determine policy
for the Region and proceed with it
until called on the carpet by Head-
quarters. In most cases, what we
did was well received and often be-
came policy for other Regions.
"The people with whom I worked
were outstanding and I am pleased
to still be in touch with many of
them today."
Edmund J. Skernolis
Waste Management, Inc.
"In my 14 years at EPA (1972-86),
I was given many diverse and chal-
lenging opportunities to serve the
Agency's goals and grow with its
mission. Since leaving, I have used
that extensive experience in manag-
ing government affairs for the lar-
gest environmental services comp-
any in the country.
"My transition to the private sector
has, however, been made easy by
the lessons one learns well at EPA,
especially in Region III - an abid-
ing respect for the environment,
for the professional commitment
Dick Pastor talked daily to Commonwealth officials
as Pennsylvania Program Officer.
of those involved, and for coopera-
tion and common sense.
"I can assure my old colleagues of
the continuing high respect for
Region III within our environmen-
tal community, which we alumni
share with you as a badge of
honor."
Richard J. Pastor
Emirosafe Mgmt. Services, Inc.
"After 15 years with the Agency
my departure came with mixed
emotions.
"Not only did my tenure provide
one of the best learning experien-
ces one could receive in the
realities of the environmental field,
but it also provided the oppor-
tunity to meet some of the
best-trained, most com-
mitted, totally dedicated in-
dividuals in public service.
It is these people, many of
whom I still consider close
friends, who really are the
heart and soul of the agen-
cy.
"No matter in which
program or under what
budget or time constraints
placed upon them by
others, these people would
respond with an enthusiasm
which foretold success for the
project or program. It is these
people that I miss the most.
"Since leaving the Agency I have
had the opportunity to work with
many different EPA Regional of-
fices and State Agencies. Region
III still stands out as one of the en-
vironmentally conscious and ration-
ally managed operations in the
regulatory arena and for that
reason they will remain successful."
Michael J. Chern
N J. American Water Company
"During my 12 years with
EPA, I saw a great many
things that changed and
some things that never
changed. Among the chan-
ges were manpower levels.
In 1974, the Region III Of-
fice occupied only one
floor in the Curtis Building
and I knew by name just
about everyone who
worked for the Agency.
By 1986, the staff had
tripled and many people
were strangers. In 1974, the public
saw us as good guys. By 1986, we
weren't quite so popular. But
whatever else changed, one thing
never did - the commitment of the
EPA staff. As a whole, I have
never worked with a finer and
more dedicated group of people.
After more than four years, I still
miss them."
Nicholas DeBenedictis
Philadelphia Electric Company
"In 1972,1 was fresh out of college,
and eager to use my environmental
engineering degree. EPA Region
III provided me a great oppor-
tunity to use both my technical and
communication skills. We were
'pioneers' in the early 1970s, set-
ting the initial standards for en-
Harry Blount's retirement dinner was a rare occasion
for Nick DeBenedictis because the average age
of the Region III staff was 30.
vironmental projects and concerns
which would be dealt with by the
Agency, and learning how the
public would come to view environ-
mental protection issues.
"Our work with sensitive environ-
mental reviews, urban area pollu-
tion improvement projects, and
public policy helped form positive
impressions about the effectiveness
and importance of the EPA with
officials in federal, state and local
governments.
"I received the knowledge and ex-
perience to take on the challenges
that faced me as I moved onto my
work with the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia
Chamber of Commerce, and my
current position at Philadelphia
Electric. I will always be grateful
for the experiences and knowledge
I received at the EPA."
Howard R. Heim, Jr.
Anitec Image Corporation
"I left the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region III in
May of 1980. At that time I was
Chief of the Air Programs Branch.
After leaving the EPA, I joined
E.I. DuPont as an Environmental
Coordinator. I was in charge of the
major environmental programs for
a film manufacturing plant of
about 1000 employees. My EPA
experience, particularly in hazard-
ous waste and water, was invalu
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26
Region III Heritage
able for my career.
"I worked for DuPont for 8 years
and, after an assignment with an
environmental consulting com-
pany, joined Anitec Image Cor-
poration as Manager of Environ-
mental Control. I manage a staff
of six environmental, safety, and in-
dustrial hygiene professionals. My
position at Anitec is international.
Anitec's facilities in England, Swit-
zerland, Belgium, France, and
Australia, including Ilford film
plants, have well-trained environ-
mental staffs who are geared to
meet international environmental
regulations.
"Upon reflection, the years I
worked at EPA Region III pro-
vided me with invaluable ex-
perience in preparing for my
career outside of government.
"I am not at afi surprised that the
EPA is celebrating a 20th anniver-
sary. With the popular support
gathered in the last twenty years, I
am sure we will be participating in
a 30th anniversary ten years from
now."
Michael Zickler
Roy F. Weston, Inc.
"After leaving EPA, I worked
with Foster Wheeler Enviresponse
for 14 months on an EPA-dedi-
cated contract supporting the Of-
fice of Research and Develop-
ment. In 1989,1 joined Weston as
Regional Manager of the Techni-
cal Assistance Team in Cherry
Hill. Another EPA-dedicated con-
tract, this one supports the Super-
Mike Zickler welcomes Administrator Lee Thomas to the
Emergency Response office.
fund Removal Branch in Region
III, where I had been working
when there. I feel very fortunate in
my current position to enjoy the
benefits of private industry while
still providing quality service to
and maintaining contact with EPA.
"I have been involved with some
interesting assignments during my
career, including the James River
kepone spill in 1976, disaster relief
efforts in Puerto Rico in 1975, and
the post-Bhopal investigations in
1985. More important, I met a lot
of interesting, talented and dedi-
cated people, many of whom are
still close friends today. And yes, I
still bike to work!"
Rebecca L. Taggart
U.S. State Department
"I came to EPA after graduate
school. I wanted to work at EPA
so badly that I waited out a hiring
freeze for four months and finally
got hired in February, 1987. It was
worth the wait, but I have
now been spoiled for life.
The people at Region III are
truly a joy to work with: intel-
ligent, committed and able
to have a sense of humor in
difficult situations. The
work was varied and chal-
lenging.
"Although I remained an
Air Division employee dur-
ing my tenure at Region III,
I especially enjoyed my invol-
vement with the regional
compztrative risk project, since it
broke down the walls between
divisions and brought many of us
together for over a year. The list
could go on and on, but the bot-
tom line is that EPA Region III
was and is a great place to be."
E. Ann Cardinal
SRA Technologies,
"I spent several years as a
citizen activist in the en-
vironmental movement fol-
lowed by more years of
working for private and
quasi-governmental or-
ganizations. I had the
privilege of working with
many EPA and state en-
vironmental staff and
management. I thoroughly
enjoyed my interactions
with the EPA people be-
cause of their caring - in-
stead of just following the rules
and regulations they cared about
people and the environment.
"When I came to Region III, I
found the staff wanted to do the
right thing for the environment
and people. There was a
widespread belief that people
needed to listen to others and
learn from them. This made my
stay at EPA very enjoyable be-
cause I felt I had a lot to say and
many listened to me when I told of
my experiences and thoughts on
how to better interact with the
general citizenry of the Region.
Happy Birthday EPA, Region III!"
Public and Private Partners
David Baily
Virginia EOF
"The relationship of the Va. EDF
with Region III has often been in-
Larry Teller and Rich Kampf host a Chemical Industry Forum
as part of the outreach program for the regulated community.
fluenced, like those with most en-
vironmental groups, by the at-
titude and posture of the
President.
"Throughout the years, however,
Region III has been fortunate to
have a smaller turnover of staff.
They have tried, by and large, to
chart a steady course of environ-
mental protection through chang-
ing times. The Region has typified
a reasonable relationship between
EPA, the States and the environ-
mental community.
"As more authority and real power
is given to the States, Region III
faces a new and serious challenge
to continue to supervise State
programs and maintain an open
and meaningful dialogue with en-
vironmental groups. EDF will con-
tinue to do its part to help foster
that relationship."
Ruth Patrick
Academy of Natural Sciences
"Many changes have occurred in
our methods of evaluation of
toxicity since 1970. In those days
the most advanced method of
evaluating pollution was a 96 hour
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Region III Heritage
27
TLM, now called an LC50, which
was performed on a bluegill. We
realized this was not sufficient to
determine toxicity and that we
must look at the most sensitive
stages of nutrient transfer in the
life history of organisms and at
least three stages in the food web.
"Now we must go into the field and
study the whole community. EPA
has been a leader in this ever-ad-
vancing field and is taking a more
holistic approach involving
chemistry and biology in studying
the effects on the whole ecosystem.
It has been very stimulating to be
associated with this great organiza-
tion over the years."
Hon. Maurice Goddard
Former Secretary
Pa. DER
"EPA has been a
major factor in the
improvement in the
quality of life in the
United States over
the past 20 years. It
is hard to believe
they have passed so
quickly and that so
much has been ac-
complished.
"The improve-
ment of the water
quality in the Del-
aware River Estuary
is a dramatic ex-
ample of what has
been achieved.
Time Magazine last
year reported that
the Delaware River Estuary was
the cleanest on any American
coast. Over 30 species of aquatic
life have increased in population.
Continued increases of shad runs
is a classic example. The records
in many other areas of concern
such as air quality, drinking water,
solid and hazardous waste, have
also shown improvement. The
leadership and financial assistance
provided by EPA have been essen-
tial in moving environmental
protection forward.
"Nevertheless, more needs to be
done and I believe it is time to
provide cabinet status for the
Agency.
"Congratulations EPA and Region
III for the outstanding accomplish-
ments of the past 20 years. May I
extend my very best wishes for
your continued success."
Hon. Lawrence Coughlin
U.S. House of Representatives
"Twenty years ago the ecology
movement dawned with the first
Earth Day and the establishment
of EPA.
"Since then, we have witnessed
tremendous accomplishments
toward cleaning up the Earth and
protecting its future. Since 1970,
we have produced cleaner
automobiles; we have in place
regulations on fossil fuel burning
industries; we have cleaned up
many rivers and lakes; and we have
begun to develop alternative ener-
gy sources.
"We have realized that we cannot
afford to ignore pressing environ-
mental needs. Not only must we
clean up and prevent pollution, we
Bill Reilly, Ted Erickson and Ruth Becker discuss the many issues of public concern
prior to the Administrator's town meeting in Philadelphia.
must also preserve our precious
resources for future generations."
Hon. Gerald L. Rallies
Former Governor of Virginia
"As Governor of Virginia, I made
environmental issues a matter of
priority. My Cabinet and I had the
opportunity to work closely with
EPA on a wide range of issues re-
lated to Virginia's natural resour-
ces.
"During those years, Virginia
developed an effective working
relationship with EPA, and estab-
lished better communications at all
levels. The staff at EPA worked
hard to respond to our concerns,
and the result was a renewed com-
mitment to environmental quality.
"EPA and Virginia successfully
worked together in a number of
areas, and the signing of the 1987
Chesapeake Bay Agreement is tes-
timony to the value of that coopera-
tion. It marked an historic turning
point in efforts to restore and
protect the largest and most
productive estuary in the nation.
"These kinds of cooperative efforts
are becoming increasingly impor-
tant. EPA has taken important
steps to work with state and local
governments in the most critical
areas, and I believe the results will
benefit Americans for generations
to come."
Ruth Becker
Pennsylvania Resources Council
"As part of an organization that
has been working to protect the
environment for 50 years, I am
delighted that con-
cern about the en-
vironment has now
become a main-
stream value. Polls
show that a majority
of the public cares
about air and water,
waste, the ozone
layer, the greenhouse
effect, and even the
food they eat. In-
deed, it has been
citizen concern and
action which has
been a catalyst for
much of the progress
of the past 20 years.
People expect
government to
protect the environ-
ment - and are willing to pay for it.
"EPA has had its ups and downs
during the past two decades, but it
can look to achievements in water
quality, hazardous waste, and
education with pride. Meanwhile,
although some in business still see
environmental protection as need-
less expense or public relations, a
growing number recognize environ-
mental protection as both a
worthwhile investment and a com-
munity responsibility. Some have
joined with environmental groups
to solve problems, while others
have saved millions of dollars by
utilizing waste reductions.
"All of us have become more ma-
ture about solving environmental
problems, realizing that solutions
are not achieved immediately or in
isolation or without cost. We've
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28
Region III Heritage
done a lot, but there's a lot left to
do."
Hon. John Warner
United States Senate
"The Environmental Protection
Agency has a long and rich partner-
ship with Virginia and our local
governments in restoring and
preserving the Chesapeake Bay -
our nation's largest natural estuary.
The future of the Agency will be to
continue to improve the manage-
ment of the Bay and to meet the
challenges of solid waste disposal,
improving air and water quality,
and in protecting the public health
and environment for future genera-
tions.
"I look forward to working with
EPA to find solutions to these dif-
ficult issues."
Hon. Jay Rockefeller
United States Senate
"Through my years as
Governor of West Vir-
ginia, and currently as a
United States Senator, I
have always been able
to count on EPA to un-
derstand the unique
geographical, social and
cultural conditions in
my state. The Agency
has helped monitor and
enforce regulations in a
manner that protects
the health and environ-
ment of West Vir-
ginians, while at the
same time taking into considera-
tion economic development
needs."
these important programs, and the
constant environmental improve-
ments that were achieved as a
result of the combined efforts of
the agencies. So much more was
accomplished through this com-
bined effort than would have been
possible working singularly to deal
with the myriad of problems that
existed.
"I'm happy to provide an accolade
for EPA during its 20th year cele-
bration, especially to those dedi-
cated professionals that make it
work."
Hon. David Grubb
W. Va. House of Delegates
"It's hard to believe that 20 years
have passed. In the early years,
EPA played a key role hi the work
David W.Robinson,
Former Division Chief
W. Va. Dept. of Natural Resources
"When I assumed the position of
Water Resources Chief and was
given the charge of gaining state
delegation from EPA for the
NPDES and RCRA programs, I
knew that public benefits
depended on the professional
skills, understanding and partner-
ships that had to be developed be-
tween the State and EPA.
"I was pleased with the partnership
that did develop between the agen-
cies and the; ultimate delegation of
Jim Self, Phil Retallick, Ray Germann, Phil Younis, and reporters tour a Delaware
esidential area where methane gas was leaking into homes from a waste disposal site.
of Citizens Action Group from
providing valuable research infor-
mation to seed money for water
quality workshops. Today, as a
member of the West Virginia
Legislature, I continue to rely on
EPA for information, oversight of
state programs and relevant issue
analysis. As we head into the
decade of the environment, it is
crucial that we continue working
together to protect our natural
resources."
Hon. Robert C. Byrd
United States Senate
"In 1963, with $500,0001 added to
a Senate appropriations bill, the
Public Health Service initiated a
program, based in Wheeling, to
control water pollution in the Ohio
River Basin. Few could have pre-
dicted that that program would be-
come part of a national environ-
mental movement.
"As we recognize the Environmen-
tal Protection Agency's 20th an-
niversary, I salute the EPA office
in Wheeling and take pride in the
realization that what began as a
small Public Health Service project
helped to break new ground in
what has become a national man-
date to protect our environment."
Hon. William V. Roth, Jr.
United States Senate
"I have always enjoyed working
with the professionals at the En-
vironmental Protection Agency^s
Region III Office in Philadelphia.
I will never forget how the team at
Region III helped
me in my fight to
stop ocean dump-
ing in the late
1970s. At a time
when other cities
were challenging
my anti-dumping
law, Region III
made sure that
the law was en-
forced in the
greater Philadel-
phia area, and
they successfully
prevented ocean
dumping off the
Delaware coast.
"Today, Region
III is still working
hard to bring a
better environment to Delaware
and the surrounding States. As I
work in Congress to enact strict
Clean Air, Clean Water, Super-
fund and Resource Conservation
legislation, Region III is putting
those laws into action. To note just
a few examples, I am pleased with
how activities such as the estuary
program, the non-point source pol-
lution program, and the outreach
programs, have contributed to a
clean environment in Delaware.
By working in cooperation with
our State and local officials,
Region III brings a clean environ-
ment home to you and me. I'm
proud to be a part of this effort."
U.S. Government Printing Office. 1990 707-181
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Region III Heritage
29
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30
Region III Heritage
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IN MEMORIAM
Those listed below were some of our coworkers who passed away.
We miss them.
Frances Alpeiser
Calvin Carter
Rich Contrisciano
Gary Gardner
Howard Lamp'l
Dave McEnerney
Bob North
Pearl Schecter
Ken Suter
Robert N. Williams
Brian Bostwick
James Cartwright
John Eagan
Linda Hudspeth
Shirley Martin
Marie Nelson
Tom Orovitz
Lewis Sims
David Wells
Glen Witmer
Paul Wolcott
Dave McEnerney, an engineer in the construction grants program,
i rr_r_ .._ T _ iir_ TI ! T ₯ - i i .»_*f_i iS_ ..: _ _ ji_ .
Calvin Carter, former Director of the Office of Civil Rights, handled
as a popular figure irt the Region. His hard work helped bring the many cases, such as when a group of minority contractors in hard
Blue Plains treatment plant on line to clean up the large sewage hats marched into the Regional Administrator's office
pollution problem in the Potomac River.
^ . . to protest the
lack of opportunities for federal construction projects.
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EPA Region III:
1970-1990
MAKINGADIFFERENCE
Robert Allen
James Bailey
Lynne Bailey
Joyce Baker
Robert Braster
Gary Bryant
Leo Clark
Gerard Crutchley
Robert Davis
Robert Donaghy
Daniel Donnelly
Gerard Donovan, Jr.
Raymond George
William Gersting
James Green
Charles Jones, Jr.
Greene Jones
Ronald Jones
Barry Kelly
William Klettner
Benjamin Lacy
David Lorentz
James Marks
Eugene Mattis
Scott McPhilUamy
Alvin Morris
David O'Brien
Marria O'Malley
R. Fenton Roudabush
Bernard Sammons
Charles Sapp
Jerry Saseen
William Schremp
Daniel Sweeney
Bernard Turlinski
Andrew Uricheck
Robert Vallandingham
Orterio Villa
Stephen Wassersug
Dale Wismer
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