EPA Honors 31 Western Organizations' and Individuals' Environmental Efforts

San Francisco CA - During the agency's third annual Environmental Awards Ceremony in San Francisco, U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Wayne Nastri presented plaques to 31 western organizations and individuals in recognition of their efforts to protect and preserve the environment in the year 2000.

The EPA Region 9 Environmental Awards program acknowledges commitment and significant contributions to the environment in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam and tribal lands. Thirty one groups and individuals were selected from 100 nominees received this year from businesses, media, local, state and federal government officials, tribes, environmental organizations and citizen activists.

The winners and basis for recognition are:

Local, State, Tribal or Federal Government

L. Robert Ulibarri, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Hoopa, California; Ecobuilding Team, Phoenix, Arizona; County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Whittier, California; International Bird Rescue Research Center, Cordelia, California; Port of Long Beach, Long Beach, California; The City of Petaluma's Department of Water Resources and Conservation, California;

Options Career Camp 2000 of the Tahoe National Forest Service, Foresthill, California; Department of the Environment, City & County of San Francisco, California; Dean Mike, Chairman of Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Coachella, California; Pamela Evans of the Alameda Health Agency, California;

Lake Tahoe Best Management Practices Working Group, Zephyr Cove, Nevada; Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Rancho Cucamonga, California; Dayton Valley Conservation District, Kevin Piper, Nevada; Angelo Bellomo, Director Environmental Health & Safety, Los Angeles, California; Eddrick Osborne, Richmond, California; Grant Goodman of Rockland Materials, Phoenix, Arizona;

Heidi Hardin, Coordinator, Children's Mural Program and Bayview Opera House Environmental Education Program (BEEP!), San Francisco.

Environmental, Community or Non-Profit

Marla Morrissey, Morro Estuary Greenbelt Alliance, Los Osos, California; San Francisco School District's Indoor Air Quality Policy Implementation Committ Tobiason of Guam Recycling Association, Agana, Guam; San Francisco Bay Area Healthcare Pollution Prevention Partnership, California; Project Loko I'a, Honolulu, Hawaii; Hanalei Heritage River Program, Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii; Division of Forestry, Mangilao, Guam; Desert House Project, Phoenix, Arizona; Linda Tatreau, Advisor of Marine Mania, George Washington High School, Barrigada, Guam; Surfrider Foundation, San Diego; Lenny Siegel, Director of Center for Public Environmental Oversight, San Francisco;

Business, Industry or Trade Organization

Joe Coglaiti, Redding, California; Kyocera Wireless Corp., San Diego; Michael D. Gallo of Joseph Gallo Farms, Atwater, California; Julie Burford of SMG at the Moscone Center, San Francisco.