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NEIWPCC’s Ron Poltak Receives EPA Lifetime Achievement Award
by Stephen Hochbrunn, NEIWPCC
Visitors to NEIWPCC Executive Director Ronald Poltak’s office in our Lowell, Mass., headquarters may notice a relatively new addition—a gleaming blue-glass EPA Lifetime Achievement Merit Award. Given out by EPA since 1970, the merit awards honor individuals and groups who have shown particular ingenuity and commitment in their efforts to preserve the region’s environment. The awards aren’t easily obtained; the 2006 nomination process drew approximately 50 nominations from across New England, and no doubt all 50 were deserving. The selection of Ron as a recipient was a tremendous tribute to his accomplishments—and those of NEIWPCC as a whole.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson and EPA New England Regional Administrator Robert W. Varney presented the awards to Ron and the other recipients at a ceremony in Boston’s ornate Faneuil Hall.
“These awards are among the highest honors EPA can bestow to recognize environmental accomplishments,” Varney said. “The work of these individuals, organizations and businesses reflect the best attributes of New Englanders, working to find solutions to environmental issues. I offer my gratitude for their extraordinary contributions in protecting the environment.”
During the ceremony, Linda Murphy, Director of EPA New England’s Office of Ecosystem Protection, delivered a speech honoring Ron and his achievements.
“What distinguishes Ron Poltak is not only what he has accomplished,” Murphy said, “but how he has conducted his work—through respectful relationships, inclusive communications, and a commitment to quality results. The seven Northeast states that comprise NEIWPCC are small in area and population, but diverse in their economic and natural resource base, as well as their cultural and political identities. Ron, while recognizing these differences, has formed state coalitions for increased federal funds for water protection and restoration, and for building and repairing wastewater and drinking water infrastructure.
“He has helped bring about a paradigm shift in resource protection—focusing on watershed approaches, and shifting emphasis from controls on point source dischargers to controlling area-wide sources of pollution. He has acted to control mercury, acid deposition, and leaking underground oil tanks. In all these endeavors, Ron has forged partnerships between different states, different levels of government, and the business and environmental communities.”
Ron has served as NEIWPCC’s Executive Director since 1983. Under his leadership, we have dramatically increased our activities related to water quality, wastewater treatment, drinking water, and training, and expanded our focus to include issues such as nonpoint source pollution, underground storage tanks, and new threats like mercury. Before joining NEIWPCC, Ron served as the Director of the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation. He also spent 15 years with the New Hampshire Governor’s Office in various senior environmental positions. In total, he has spent more than 30 years in environmental policy development and implementation.