E-M:/ EPA Region V's Val Adamkus retires

[asagady@sojourn.com]

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Enviro-Mich message from asagady@sojourn.com
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I though I'd share with the lists this news release from U.S. EPA
concerning the retirement of Val Adamkus.  I've always been
impressed with him whenever I've met him or seen him in 
action in public.  Folks interested in Michigan and Great Lakes
issues know of his past leadership at EPA Region V.

I'll never forget seeing the hearing on TV that Adamkus appeared at in 
front of John Dingell where he fearlessly told the truth 
about the Dow report/dioxin matter and, for all practical purposes,  
canned EPA Deputy Administrator John Hernandez during
the Ronald Reagan/Anne Gorsuch years.

Attorney and Deputy Regional Administrator David A. Ullrich
has been appointed as Acting Regional Administrator.

Alex Sagady

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From: PHILLIPPA CANNON <CANNON.PHILLIPPA@epamail.epa.gov>
To: Multiple recipients of list <eparegion5news@valley.rtpnc.epa.gov>
Subject: "U.S. EPA Region 5 News Release"
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
X-Comment: U.S. EPA Region 5 Office of Public Affairs

U.S. EPA Region 5 News Release
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Media Contact:	Phillippa Cannon
(312)	353-6218

For Immediate Release: June 9, 1997

No. 97-OPA128


EPA MIDWEST CHIEF ADAMKUS RETIRES

     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 today announced 
that Regional Administrator Valdas V. Adamkus has retired June 4 after 29 
years of Federal service. 

     He has served as regional administrator for 16 years and as deputy 
regional administrator for 11 years -- the longest-serving senior 
executive in EPA.  David A. Ullrich, deputy regional administrator, will 
serve as acting regional administrator until a replacement is named.

     Adamkus has been with EPA since its inception in 1970 and was 
appointed regional administrator by President Reagan in 1981.  As 
administrator of Region 5 he was responsible for all Federal air, water, 
hazardous waste, and other pollution control programs in Illinois, 
Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

     In 1985, President Reagan presented him the Distinguished Executive 
Presidential Rank Award -- the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a 
civil servant.  Adamkus also holds EPAs highest award -- the Gold medal 
for Exceptional Service.  Upon his retirement, he received a congratulatory
 letter from President Clinton and a Distinguished Career Award from EPA 
Administrator Carol Browner.  And Region 5 presented him the newly 
established Valdas V. Adamkus Sustained Commitment to the Environment 
Honor Award

     Among his best-known accomplishments are: 

*  Protection and restoration of the Great Lakes.  He was manager of 
EPAs Great Lakes National Program and for many years served as U.S. 
chairman of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board, an advisory body of the 
U.S.-Canadian International Joint Commission.

*  Promotion of environmentalism in former Soviet Bloc countries, 
especially in the Baltic States.  (In 1988 he received EPAs first 
Fitzhugh Green Award for outstanding contributions to international 
environmental protection).

*  Promotion of environmental rights for Indian tribes.  Under his 
leadership, Region 5 efforts in working with tribal governments became a 
model for EPA nationwide.

     In the early 1980s, he established a reputation for integrity when 
he testified before Congress about his refusal to bow to pressure from the 
EPA Administration, which insisted Adamkus change -- and thus falsify --a 
report on dioxin emissions from Dow Chemical in Midland, MI.

     In a farewell message to EPA staff, he praised their role in these 
accomplishments and encouraged them to meet new challenges. 

     Together, we have solved many environmental problems and made 
tremendous progress in improving the quality of life for people everywhere,
he said.  At the same time, it is very important to recognize the 
challenges we still face.  We must take them on with the same enthusiasm 
and idealism that has brought us this far.

     Asked about his future plans, Adamkus said: "The most desirable 
situation would be to enjoy my golf game, but I believe that's not in 
the cards.

     Born in Lithuania in 1926, as a young man Adamkus joined the 
underground against both the Soviets and the Nazis.  In 1948, he won the 
Gold and Silver Medals in track and field during the 1948 European Olympic 
Games.  He attended the University of Munich before emigrating to the 
United States in 1949.  Fluent in five languages, in the 1950s Adamkus 
served as senior NCO with the 5th Army Reserve Military Intelligence.

     Adamkus graduated as a civil engineer from the Illinois Institute of 
Technology in 1960.  He also holds three honorary Ph.D.s, including a 
recent one from Northwestern University.

     He and his wife, Alma, live in Hinsdale, IL.

-30-


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