CEPP National Leadership
Michael Ardito, Region 9
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Michael Ardito is a dedicated team player whose leadership and vitality inspire EPA and other agencies to work together to initiate and promote innovative emergency prevention and preparedness approaches. Michael serves as a Senior Program Specialist and Chemical Emergency Program Coordinator for the Emergency Prevention and Preparedness Section in Region 9. His tireless work on a multitude of regional and national projects is always accomplished with a smile. The EPA’s emergency management national program benefit immeasurably from his energy and commitment. A few of his projects serve as examples of his effective leadership.

Michael identifies and manages resources, including grants and training programs, that foster the development of state emergency response and planning capabilities. As the lead of the Oceania Regional Response Team (ORRT), a response support and coordinating body, Michael is the team’s primary facilitator, planner, and mediator. He collaborates with all ORRT members, including 15 other federal and tribal agencies, several state agencies, and industry.

With Michael’s training and assistance, Hawaii attained the capacity to use state and local agencies for hazmat exercise development and implementation. This shift of primary stewardship to the state not only has saved the federal government tens of thousands of dollars annually, but also has established a more robust, credible, and pertinent hazmat program. In addition, Michael spearheaded the effort to establish Region 9’s first Memorandum of Understanding with a state to implement the Clean Air Act §112 Risk Management Program.

Michael always provides a wealth of historical perspective, an impressive depth of knowledge, and a great deal of independent creative energy to all aspects of his work. Through his efforts, the response and preparedness programs within and outside the region are better integrated and more effective. The supportive and lasting relationships Michael has developed with his state counterparts and other federal agencies illustrate that collaborative and committed state and national partnerships are the cornerstone of effective national preparedness and prevention programs.

CEPP State Partner
Bob Hayes, Region 6

Although Bob Hayes, State of Lousiana, is just one of several outstanding state personnel in Region 6 striving to ensure that their state programs do not waiver or stagnate, his leadership for over 15 years on Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC) stands out. Having worked within Louisiana’s right-to-know program since the early days of EPCRA, Bob’s energy and knowledge are exemplary. In addition, Bob oversees the preparation of the Louisiana State Emergency Response Commission’s annual report and disseminates information to the LEPCs. He has been effective in starting and strengthening the National Association of State Title III Program Officials.

Bob was instrumental in developing rules and guidance for incident reporting that have been used by numerous other states in developing their programs. Bob has helped develop and implement an electronic filing system for Tier II reports that has served as a model for other systems developed nationally, and established an enforcement and compliance program that many other states have used as a model for enforcing the notification provisions under EPCRA. His considerable knowledge in these areas stems from enforcement duties involving civil penalties and from his role as the reviewer of industry hazardous materials incident notifications.

Bob tirelessly promotes the vision of right-to-know throughout the state. He chairs the Public Information Committee, and he meets with company representatives in all Louisiana parishes, advises them of reporting requirements, and helps them develop procedures for timely reporting of chemical emergencies to the state police and LEPCs. He is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences on Louisiana’s right-to-know regulations. Every person in Louisiana with even a limited involvement with right-to-know programs knows Bob.

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Homeland Security
Jim Mitchell, Region 5
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Jim Mitchell, a national expert on radiation releases, has made EPA a key player in radiation release incident preparedness. His participation on national workgroups has been vital to addressing research gaps and planning for possible radiation incidents. Jim’s vision for radiological education and training has improved the emergency preparedness of the entire country. His many strengths include innovative thinking, on-scene-coordinator experience, understanding of radiological sampling, monitoring, data collection, disposal, health, safety, regulation, response, and removal, and relationship skills with local, state, and federal agencies.

Jim’s influence on the development and promotion of effective radiation incident planning is extraordinary. For instance, as a member of an Office of Emergency Management Workgroup, Jim has worked through countless radiation planning and response issues that are now outlined in the Nuclear/Radiological Annex to the National Response Plan. As part of the Emergency Response Technical Workgroup, he took on a lead role in identifying the types of radiation equipment to be purchased on a national level. Working with the Department of Homeland Security interagency workgroup he has helped resolve a broad range of prevention, planning, and response issues related to radiological incidents. Through collaboration with several agencies at a national level, he plays a major role in creating a national monitoring strategy, identifying new research needs, determining the maximum distances that off-the-shelf commercial radiation detectors can detect radioactive targets, and gaining a better understanding of the downwind effects of a radiological dispersal device and particle penetrations in building structures.

OSWER and the removal managers have recently adopted the concept that Jim developed and promoted to prepare a core group of pre-designated EPA staff to lead field teams assessing radiation releases. Jim has been working with EPA’s Emergency Response Team and Office of Radiation and Indoor Air to draft field team standard operating procedures and a core training curriculum for team members.

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On-Scene Coordinator of the Year
Stephen Jarvela, Region 3
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Stephen Jarvela, a senior on-scene coordinator in Region 3, led the Agency-wide response to the terrorist event involving ricin in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in February 2004. This incident was the first time the federal government responded to ricin, which poses a serious public health threat through inhalation and ingestion pathways. Stephen demonstrated outstanding leadership, focused project management, and political acumen as he directed EPA’s assessment and cleanup of the building.

Stephen took on the lead role within the Agency in laying out a remediation project plan and efficiently organizing a successful team effort in a very short time under extraordinary emergency circumstances. Stephen’s initial team consisted of five EPA employees and numerous contractors, who were quickly reinforced by dozens of additional personnel from across EPA and other support organizations. In addition to leading his scientific team, Stephen worked closely with the US Capitol Police (USCP) to shape scenarios and options for remediating the building.

Stephen and his team developed a cleanup and post-remediation sampling approach that met the lead agency’s approval and allowed for those normally separate activities to occur concurrently, thereby reducing the time line for completing the cleanup. This strategy also enabled the EPA and USCP to meet the five-day deadline for reopening the building.

Stephen’s exceptional work has added to EPA’s national capability to mount an effective response to this poisonous agent. By recording EPA’s experiences during the incident in an OSC after-action report and passing on the lessons learned, Stephen has advanced the cause of protecting homeland security.

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On-Scene Coordinator of the Year
David Dorian, Region 4
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Few removal sites in EPA’s history have the scale or diversity of materials comparable to the Starmet CMI site, one of only a handful of depleted uranium processors in the country. Starmet is that rare site with both mega Fund-lead and mega PRP-lead areas occurring simultaneously on the same site, thereby requiring an unprecedented degree of coordination, complex enforcement, technical, and management challenges. Yet, with no initial experience disposing of radioactive material, On-Scene Coordinator David Dorian responded with outstanding success to South Carolina’s request for emergency removal action. He has since become the region’s removal program expert on radioactive waste.

David’s commitment and use of innovative techniques at this site highlight his outstanding managerial and technical abilities. He demonstrated exceptional skill in coordinating with the state, PRPs, and the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Justice. He negotiated a landmark multiparty Administrative Order on Consent to deal with the massive site cleanup and then effectively implemented the provisions of the order. He made efficient use of Agency and PRP resources, developed detailed achievable schedules, and tracked site activity down to the PRP level. He parceled the huge project into clear and achievable goals while simultaneously pursuing global solutions. Recognizing his own technical limitations, he enlisted the radiological expertise of the Emergency Response Team. He provided for day to day site management using a Region 4 interagency agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation. Thus, he maximized the best use of resources.

As an ancillary benefit of the removal action at Starmet, EPA has developed a skill set that is similar to that necessary to address terrorist acts of radiological dispersion. Thus, the removal action that David managed has expanded the response capacities of Region 4 and EPA nationally in the face of potential terrorist radiological threats.

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Oil Spill Prevention, Preparedness, and Response
Matt Carr, Region 10
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On-Scene Coordinator Matt Carr is a key member of national and regional workgroups related to EPA’s Oil Spill Prevention, Preparedness and Response Program. As a national team member, he engages other regional experts in developing national guidance and policy on oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response. He has researched, authored, and contributed to several technical white papers dealing with SPCC subjects, including regulation of portable and mobile tanks and loading racks. These papers have become the basis for national guidance and future rule making, which the Agency contemplates doing to solve some ongoing interpretation issues of the current requirements.

In Alaska, Matt is the primary SPCC/Facility Response Plan regulations point of contact for the regulated industry, including environmental consulting firms, professional engineers, state, local, and tribal governments, and the general public. Matt also serves as the technical specialist for a multimillion dollar EPA grant to the Denali Commission, which supplements other programs leading to the improvement of rural bulk fuel storage facilities. Working with the Denali Commission, Matt helps set funding priorities and draws attention to emerging needs throughout rural Alaska. For instance, Matt has devised innovative enforcement approaches for noncompliant regulated facilities, the majority of which are owned and operated by Alaska Native Tribal governments and entities, public school districts, and village stores that have few if any funds for compliance with the new regulations, required maintenance, and proper operation of existing facilities. History has shown that shutting down a facility for noncompliance is not an option in many communities where such actions would have life threatening consequences during the harsh arctic winters.

Matt has established a reputation throughout the regulated community as a source of authority and expertise. He also has taken a proactive role in outreach activities to educate the public on the provisions of the oil spill prevention and preparedness requirements. Matt’s ability to draw on local experience in Alaska and to translate this knowledge into national applications has made him a valued member of national workgroups.