General Industry News

Citizens Guide Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

The Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Task Force Creates a Citizens’ Advisory Committee, Releases Restoration Priorities under guidance from EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, joined by CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley and other task force members at May meeting.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson convened an official meeting of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force on May 6, 2011, in Mobile, Ala. During the meeting the task force created a citizens’ advisory committee to help guide the group’s efforts and released a strategy background document outlining the priorities of the ongoing gulf restoration. The meeting furthered the task force’s ongoing commitment to supporting the conservation and restoration of a resilient and healthy ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jackson proposed to establish and support a 25-member Gulf of Mexico Citizen Advisory Committee during the meeting, acknowledging the need to ensure residents and local organizations have a formal process to offer input and guidance on the work of the task force and to voice environmental concerns. The newly formed committee will hold its first official meeting later this summer.

“Since President Obama first formed this task force, our focus has been on collecting the ideas and input of gulf residents,” said Jackson. “We’ve made clear that restoration plans should come from the gulf to Washington, and we’re counting on the people who know these areas best to shape our work through public meetings like this one, through the Citizens’ Advisory Committee and other efforts.”

During the meeting, the task force also identified four key priorities for the ongoing restoration of the gulf, including enhancing community resilience, restoring and conserving habitat, restoring water quality, and replenishing and protecting living coastal and marine resources. The priorities were developed based upon input from the general public and key stakeholder groups throughout the region. The task force plans for the priorities to serve as the main restorations goals and will identify specific actions to help to achieve these goals.

This was the latest in a series of meetings that the task force is holding throughout the five gulf states. Previous meetings were held in New Orleans and Pensacola, Fla. President Obama issued an executive order in October to create the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, continuing the administration’s ongoing commitment to the gulf region. The task force works to integrate federal restoration efforts with those of local stakeholders and state and tribal governments, and to facilitate accountability and support throughout the restoration process.

More information on the task force is available at this URL link.

Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to Pollution Engineering Magazine. 

Roy D. Bigham has been the editor of Pollution Engineering since 2002. Bigham attended Eastern Michigan University where he majored in chemistry and computer science with an associates degree in mathematics. He has worked as a laboratory technician at a research laboratory, managed an electroplating operation and an associated analytical laboratory. He spent three years overseeing environmental operations of five domestic and five overseas operations for a major manufacturer in the Detroit area. He then managed a field services department for an environmental analytical laboratory before moving on to a position as an environmental engineer for a construction aggregates company.

Bigham won a design award for a waste water treatment system for a landfill in the Detroit area from the State Chamber of Commerce. He has been active in the environmental field since 1980.

Recent Articles by Roy Bigham

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Multimedia

Videos

Image Galleries

WEFTEC 2006

WEFTEC®, the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference, is the biggest meeting of its kind in North America and offers thousands of water quality professionals from around the world the best water quality education and training available today.

Podcasts

This podcast addresses solutions to problems that can affect bioremediation in acidic aquifers, such as:

  • Impacts of pH on reductive dechlorination rates
  • Different bases to raise aquifer pH

Speaker- Dr. Stephen Richardson, P.E., Technical Lead for Research and Development, EOS Remediation

More Podcasts

THE MAGAZINE

Pollution Engineering

May 2013 PE cover 100px

2013 May

Check out the latest edition of Pollution Engineering Magazine today!
Table Of Contents Subscribe

EPA emissions legislation

Industry & states petitioned the Supreme Court to review EPA’s GHG emissions for power plants and cars. Do you think the court will deny the petition?
View Results Poll Archive

THE POLLUTION ENGINNERING STORE

M:\General Shared\__AEC Store Katie Z\AEC Store\Images\PE\toward-zero-discharge.gif
Urban and Highway Stormwater Pollution: Concepts and Engineering

Presents the practical work of leading experts working with highly impacted areas across the world.

More Products

Editor's Choice Awards

2013 PE Editors ChoicePollution Engineering magazine will be choosing the top, most innovative products and presenting companies that are chosen with an Editor's Choice Awards. The announcement will be published in the July 2013 issue. Visit the editor's choice awards page today!

PE Digital Editions

1112PE_Cover.jpgView Pollution Engineering's popular digital editions with interactive features. To receive each digital issue as soon as it’s available and delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe now!

STAY CONNECTED

FacebookTwitterYoutubeLinkedIn