Jason Langteau

Jason Langteau, Oil Spill Preparedness Division in the Pacific Region

1. Who is Jason Langteau?
   After completing 5 years in the US Navy I went to college to earn my environmental biology degree. Unsure of what job I could land with such a broad degree I cast my net and landed a position with the BLM. I was intrigued by the complex decisions facing land managers and have been steering my career towards a position that offers the ability to combine my interdisciplinary interests with policy decisions.
2. Why were you interested in joining the BSEE team?
   My previous role as a Surface Compliance Technician with the BLM had me working around large-scale renewable energy projects but only in a capacity to verify their compliance with set conditions. I had no authority to interpret the regulations and be a part of the larger conversation in determining how to best achieve the intended results of the regulations. When my current position was advertised I saw an opportunity to join the discussion and play a larger role in the management of a program. Also I lived in the Mojave Desert and would have taken almost any position that would have gotten me out of there.
3. What do you do now at BSEE?
   I work in the Oil Spill Preparedness Division in the Pacific Region office located in Camarillo, CA. My main duties are to review oil spill response plans, conduct unannounced exercises, and verify that the training and equipment these companies rely on meet the expectations of our regulations and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. I also attend meetings with numerous federal and state agencies that are tasked with ensuring all parties are prepared to respond if an oil spill occurs.
4. If you could choose to swap lives for just one day with any famous person, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?
   I would choose Edward Snowden and I’d pick the day before he decided to release the NSA documents to journalists. Here was a man who was so convinced the government was violating its citizens rights and knowing the protections offered to “whistle blowers” wouldn’t save him that he fled the country and his old life. I am very curious to know what he was feeling the day before this huge decision that left him branded with titles such as hero, patriot and traitor. If I was in his position would I have acted the same or would my comfortable life have kept me content with the status quo? I think you can only know by being in the situation.