On September 28, 2013, The Sierra Fund was the only nonprofit present at a workshop on mercury cleanup technologies hosted by EPA Region 9 in San Francisco.
CEO Elizabeth Martin opened the all-day workshop by framing the historic and ongoing impacts of mercury pollution on California’s communities. Later, our Science Director Dr. Carrie Monohan was one of a dozen high level mercury scientists and researchers who presented about promising projects. Participants provided input on key research and funding needs. Other presenters included:
- Michelle Wood of the CA State Water Resources Control Board
- Matt Wilkening and Chris Eckley of EPA Region 10
- Vic Claassen of UC Davis
- Jim Rytuba, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Tamara Kraus, and Charles Alpers of USGS
- Greg Reller of Burleson Consulting
- Stephen Dent of CDM Smith
- Eli Curiel of the US Forest Service
- Jesse Lepak of Colorado Division of Wildlife
An unexpected turnout of participants – 100 in the room and over 250 participating remotely from around the country and the world –showed that the questions being addressed were deeply important both in California and beyond.
A complete archive of the workshop including recordings and presentation materials is available for download on the EPA website here. Additional followup materials will be available at that location once they are released.
After the workshop, TSF met with EPA Region 9 Administrator Jared Blumenfeld, and got a chance to brief him on The Sierra Fund’s work, and congratulate Region 9 on a very successful and timely event.