Perspectives from the Regional Administrator

EPA honors 2007 Gulf Guardians

EPA and its Gulf of Mexico Program recently announced the Gulf Guardian Awards for 2007.

"Gulf Guardian Awards showcase accomplishments from a broad spectrum of environmental leaders -- from committed individuals to dynamic corporations," said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene.  Read more …>

RA Greene updates Mayor Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back Commission

Recently, RA Greene and EPA Director Sam Coleman updated the public and members of the Health & Social Service Committee of Mayor Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back Commission. Greene was joined by Dr. Mike McDaniel, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary, Dr. Howard Fumkin, Center Director, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Dr. Kevin Stephens, Director of the City of New Orleans' Health Department and Dr. Roxanne Townsend, Medicaid Medical Director, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. The presentation highlighted the collection and evaluation of environmental samples, public access to information via www.epa.gov, external review of methods and procedures by the Science Advisory Board, and a questions and answers session with the attendees. About 100 people attended the meeting and participated in the discussion moderated by Kim Boyle, Committee Chair.

GAO Tours EPA Hurricane Response in Louisiana

Senior officials from the General Accounting Office joined Regional Administrator Greene to tour hurricane damaged areas in Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes on May 17, 2006. GAO Natural Resources and Environment, Managing Director Bob Robinson, John Stephenson, Kirk Menard and Joanna Owusu toured several communities devastated by the storm and learned about EPA response and recovery activities.

The group visited an air monitoring station constructed after the hurricane, oil spill area adjacent to the Murphy Oil Company in St. Bernard Parish, 'white' good appliance recovery and recycling operations at Old Gentilly Landfill, and New Orleans household hazardous waste processing center in East Orleans.

The tour provided an opportunity for GAO representatives to see EPA operations first-hand and hear updates from EPA field team members address the main mission assignments assigned to the Agency.

EPA and LDEQ unite in responding to Hurricane Katrina

EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene joined Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Mike McDaniel on September 9 in a flyover of the New Orleans area to inspect the area's environmental conditions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The reunion offered Greene and McDaniel an opportunity to evaluate the damage and see first-hand the courageous efforts made by emergency responders at the federal, state and local level. The agencies have joined forces in their response, collaborating on environmental sampling, sharing resources, and providing the support needed to clean up and eventually rebuild the affected communities.

"Responding to an event such as Hurricane Katrina requires a multifacted effort. Collaboration among agencies, community organizations and the people whose lives are forever changed is essential if we are to restore these communities and their natural environments," Greene said. "I offer my appreciation to Mike McDaniel and the entire LDEQ team for giving partnership a new meaning by giving us a place to work and sleep. In everything EPA is doing to address damage from the hurricane, our LDEQ family is with us. EPA and our state and local partners are committed to our role in cleanup and reparation of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama."

More than 200 EPA employees and contractors are living and working in Louisiana, joining with LDEQ in assessing environmental damage and risks, monitoring and restoring public water supply systems, and addressing wastewater treatment needs. Using helicopters and the Agency's ASPECT aircraft, EPA staff are collecting information on oil spills and chemical releases to address ongoing environmental threats and to plan for on-the-ground inspections in the weeks ahead. EPA and LDEQ staff continue their analysis of flood waters and sediments for biological and chemical contamination.

More information on the work of EPA and LDEQ may be found on EPA's Hurricane Katrina Response Web site at http://www.epa.gov/katrina/index.html or LDEQ's Post-Hurricane Katrina Information Web site at http://www.deq.state.la.us/.

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