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CBF awards lifetime Conservationist of the Year award to two EPA staff |
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(ANNAPOLIS, MD)— The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has awarded its Lifetime Achievement Conservationist of the Year Award for 2011 to Robert Koroncai and Rich Batiuk, a retired manager and a senior scientist, respectively, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their leadership in the development of the historic Bay “pollution diet,” officially called the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).
“There is no doubt that the unwavering commitment and leadership of these men helped drive this effort,” said CBF President Will Baker. “We want to publicly acknowledge and honor the integral role they played in the TMDL and thank them for their efforts. We recognize that many dedicated federal and state staff contributed to the development of the pollution diet. We believe, however, that they exhibited a level of dedication that was unparalleled.”
Koroncai postponed his retirement from the EPA’s Water Protection Division in Philadelphia to complete the he TMDL. Batiuk is Associate Director for Science in the agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program office in Annapolis, Md. As chair of the Water Quality Goal Implementation Team, Koroncai shepherded the pollution diet process forward, with its many political and technical challenges. Among the many difficult tasks Batiuk accomplished, he ensured that the science underlying the TMDL was impeccable, and led countless presentations to groups throughout the Bay watershed.
CBF periodically gives the Lifetime Achievement Conservationist of the Year Award when circumstances arise that call for recognizing a history of achievement that will long impact the restoration of the Chesapeake and its rivers and streams.
The pollution diet is precedent setting, the most promising development in the history of Bay restoration efforts since the Clean Water Act in the early 1970s. EPA established a science-based limit on how much pollution the Bay and its tributaries can handle, and then worked with states and local governments as many developed plans to meet the diet by 2025.
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