Environmental Progress - Winter-Spring 2004

Employees of the Month

Editor's Note: Each month the Illinois EPA recognizes outstanding employees for making quality part of every job they do. Three recent honorees are listed below.

Michael Dura was the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's (IEPA) Employee of the Month for November 2003. Michael works for the Bureau of Land (BOL), Planning and Reporting Section, as a legal investigator within the Records Management Unit. His award recognizes an exceptional ability to get his work done correctly while meeting the tight deadlines associated with the BOL's significant volume of records and the large number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests received.

Additionally, Michael has acquired an impressive knowledge of environmental regulations, enabling him to be an outstanding and effective liaison between the Bureau of Land and the Division of Legal Counsel, as well as with the general public. He has been very effective in reducing the screening workload by communicating the regulatory requirements to third party consultants, resulting in the release of public documents previously claimed confidential and proprietary.

Michael also has played an integral role in ensuring that Trade Secret documents are managed and maintained in accordance with Illinois Pollution Control Board rules. He has an outstanding work ethic, establishing a benchmark in combining his conscientious approach to screening with the public's right to know.

Roston Cooper was the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's (IEPA) Employee of the Month for January 2004. Ross works for the Bureau of Air, Permit Section, Clean Air Act Permit Program (CAAPP) Unit. He was selected for his contribution to the on-time completion of the draft Title V permits for some of Illinois' most difficult and controversial sources, the 22 coal-fired power plants. These high-profile permits would undergo scrutiny from the U.S. EPA, the applicants, several environmental groups and citizens. Each permit was well over 100 pages in length and was drafted for public notice and public hearings.

This award also recognized his diligence and innovative approaches to permitting that utilized existing resources to their maximum benefit. His persistence in pursuing those from whom he needed input was apparent and valuable. Additionally, Ross volunteered his newfound expertise in the permitting of fuel combustion sources to assist in processing other pending permits that were also needed to meet the Title V target date of December 1, 2003. Ross' actions were a clear example of an employee making an extraordinary effort to assist the Agency in meeting its objectives.

Jeffrey Holste was the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's (IEPA) Employee of the Month for February 2004. Jeff works for the Bureau of Water in the Champaign Regional Office as the Regional Office agricultural engineer and Regional Local Area Network Administrator. Additionally he has spent the past several years as a Governor's Environmental Corps Mentor.

Jeff's award recognizes his various contributions to the Champaign regional Office. He upgraded the Bureau of Water, Division of Water Pollution Control, complaint-tracking program, converting it to the current software used by the Agency. As well, during the past year, Jeff coordinated efforts with the Department of Natural Resources in the investigation of many environmental incidents that resulted in enforcement cases.

Jeff also inspected several major and minor facilities to assist the Region with their backlog of facilities to be inspected within the five-year target goal of the Agency. Without his contribution, the Champaign Office would have been unable to meet these commitments.