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EPA, DOJ Employees Win Awards for Outstanding Achievements
The 28th Annual Federal Employee of the Year awards ceremony was held on Dec. 2 at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Calif. John Sasaki, a reporter with KTVU-TV, served as emcee where eight Bay Area employees from the EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice received recognition. The annual recognition is presented by the San Francisco Bay Federal Executive Board 
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In all, more than 80 federal employees were honored for their work in 11 different categories, which range from science to community service.
MTBE Team Awarded
Related press releases
- 2/2005 Oil companies pay EPA $1.5 Million in cleanup costs
- 11/2003 Agreement to clean up MTBE from Charnock Sub-basin
- 3/2000 Thirteen parties ordered to provide Santa Monica clean water
- 9/1999 Oil companies ordered to replace water for Santa Monica
l-r: Michael Hingerty, Laurie Williams, Steven Linder, Marie Rongone, and Carl Warren (not pictured: Rich Vail, Greg Lovato, and Bradley O'Brien)
Enter the EPA and Department of Justice's MTBE team. Charnock is the name of the wellfield closed because of the contamination, and the team dedicated to its restoration developed an innovative strategy to clean up Santa Monica's water supply quickly and effectively.
The team's work has help to raise awareness about this chemical threat. Their efforts have driven the national debate over the oil industry's use of MTBE, and directly contributed to California's decision to ban MTBE as a gasoline additive. For their work, the eight-member team – seven from EPA and one from DOJ – last month received a federal "Scientific" Award.
As a result of the EPA and DOJ team's effort, oil companies responsible for the MTBE contamination in Santa Monica agreed to pay $300 million to build a new drinking water treatment plant, and to pay an additional $1.5 million to the EPA. When completed, the new plant will provide Santa Monica residents with a reliable, safe source of drinking water.
The following employees were awarded for their work on the MTBE team:
EPA:- Rich Vaille, associate director, waste management division
- Michael Hingerty, deputy branch chief, office of regional counsel
- Marie Rongone, senior counsel, office of regional counsel
- Laurie Williams, attorney adviser, office of regional counsel
- Steven Linder, manager, underground storage tanks office
- Carl Warren, environmental engineer, underground storage tanks office
- Greg Lovato, environmental engineer, corrective action office
- Bradley O'Brien, trial attorney
David Taylor, QA team leader
QA Team Leader Awarded
Another EPA awardee, David Taylor, the team leader in the Quality Assurance Program at the EPA in San Francisco, has been instrumental in helping Pacific Southwestern Tribes and EPA staff understand the importance of ensuring the quality of environmental data. Taylor, who has a doctorate degree in chemistry, worked with most of the 146 Tribes in the Pacific Southwest to increase their technical expertise.
Taylor recently led an agency-wide effort to develop a quality assurance template specifically geared for Tribes. In addition, he developed an innovative training course, where participants come away with a fully-approved quality assurance plan in hand, allowing them to start their projects without delay.