CENTER FOR PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL OVERSIGHT
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope Street, Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650-969-1545 Fax: 650-961-8918 cpeo@cpeo.org http://www.cpeo.org
July 22, 2011
News Release from Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO)
CPEO Executive Director Lenny Siegel Awarded EPA 2011 Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement Award
The Board overseeing the Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) is pleased to announce that its Executive Director Lenny Siegel received the Superfund "Citizen of the Year" award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 19, 2011.
"It is a great honor and pleasure for me to recognize you as a recipient of the 2011 Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement Award. The EPA commends you for your commitment and dedication to the Mountain View, California community that is affected by both the Naval Air Station Moffett Field Superfund site and the Middlefield-Ellis-Whisman (MEW) Study Area," wrote Mathy Stanislaus, the EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, the EPA program overseeing the nation's Superfund site cleanups.
Mathy's recognition continued, "You serve as a shining example for other communities faced with the challenges that come with having a hazardous waste site in their community."
Lenny was recognized at the 2011 Community Involvement Training Conference recently concluded in Washington, DC. The conference brought together more than 450 people from EPA and its federal, state, tribal, and local partners who plan and implement environmental community involvement, partnership, stewardship, outreach, and education programs.
Lenny lives and works in Mountain View, California. There he has served as Executive Director of CPEO since 1994, when it was known as CAREER/PRO, a project of the San Francisco Urban Institute at San Francisco State University. In the 1990s, he served on the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee, where he used his experience at Moffett Field to help design the system of community advisory boards at contaminated federal facilities. Since then, as a "usual suspect," he has served on numerous other state and federal advisory committees, including the National Dialogue on Military Munitions and the original Defense Science Board Task Force on Unexploded Ordnance. He has served on three work teams of the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC) and several National Research Council committees dealing with military environmental issues, and he remains active on the Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board.
Peter Strauss, who attended the award session said, "As a friend and colleague, I view this as a long-awaited recognition for Lenny, and also for the CPEO organization. Over the years, I have seen first hand how Lenny, through his balanced approach and ability to speak to diverse organizations, coupled with his community organizing skills, has helped countless individuals and communities to obtain environmental justice and obtain positive outcomes."
"While this is obviously rewarding for me personally, I also see it as an affirmation of the environmental community activism which my community is known for. In Mountain View we have found that an empowered community offers constructive input, and as a result we are listened to. Our success has not only helped protect our families from toxic environmental exposures, but it has served as a national model for community engagement." said Lenny after receiving the recognition.
Jane Horton, a resident of the community benefiting from Lenny's contribution, said of the recognition, "This is awesome and well-deserved. Lenny has worked tirelessly on local and national environmental issues. I am grateful that Lenny has persevered in his work with the MEW Site and with other contaminated sites in Mountain View. He served as a mentor to me when I became aware of the TCE contamination across the street from my house, and when it was subsequently discovered that my home was over the contaminated plume and that it needed remediation, Lenny explained and translated complex issues into pieces that I could understand."
Contact:
Bob Wenzlau
Representative of the Board
CPEO, a project of the Pacific Studies Center
Phone: 650-227-3251
Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
CPEO, a project of the Pacific Studies Center
Phone: 650-961-8918
Email: lsiegel@cpeo.org
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