Environmental commissioner resigns By Candace Page • Free Press Staff Writer • March 18, 2009 Turnovers continue in top management at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
Laura Pelosi, commissioner of Environmental Conservation, has resigned after less than a year and a half in the post to take a job as executive director of the Vermont Health Care Association, a trade group for nursing homes. Agency Secretary Jonathan Wood made the announcement in a memo to staff late Tuesday. He said Pelosi will depart "in late spring."
"I am truly sorry to see her go," Wood said in the memo. Wood's deputy, John Sayles, resigned this month to take a job at the Vermont Foodbank. Wood himself replaced former secretary George Crombie late last year.
As DEC commissioner, Pelosi directed the activities of the agency's largest division, responsible for protecting air and water quality, regulating solid waste and wastewater, and carrying out other regulatory programs. During her tenure, the department was the subject of a outspokenly critical assessment of its Lake Champlain protection programs by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After a series of meetings with Pelosi, the EPA endorsed some of the department's efforts without directly withdrawing all its criticisms. Pelosi joined the agency in 2005 as an environmental enforcement attorney. After serving as director of policy research, she was named commissioner in October 2007. Wood quoted Pelosi as saying, "In my four years at the Agency, I have been constantly amazed at the level of dedication and commitment to the environment by ANR employees and scientists. Working at ANR has been one of the most significant opportunities in my career and I leave with sadness after much reflection about my personal needs and goals." |
