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For Immediate Release Friday, July 8, 2005 STEVE GUNDERSON
NAMED TO HEAD STATE WATER QUALITY DIVISION
Contact: Cindy Parmenter
Director of Communications
(303) 692-2013 - Office
(303) 891-8382 - Pager
DENVER – Steven H. Gunderson, the manager of Colorado’s
oversight of the cleanup of the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, has
been selected to serve as the director of the Water Quality Control Division at
the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Douglas H. Benevento, the Department of Public Health and
Environment’s executive director, said, “I selected Steve for this important
position because he has had a great deal of managerial experience in dealing
with a very tough program, the cleanup and closing of Rocky Flats. He has been
very successful as the manager of the department’s Rocky Flats oversight team.
“The Water Quality Control Division has made solid progress over
the last few years, and I know that Steve will build on that and take the
division to the next level. In connection with his Rocky Flats responsibilities,
Steve has worked very effectively with diverse interests from community groups
to local governments. He will bring these important skills to his new position.”
Gunderson said, “I look forward to this opportunity and to the
new challenge of working with the people in the division and in the community on
the very important issues that are the responsibility of this division. I
believe I can have a positive impact in the job as the director of the Water
Quality Control Division.”
Gunderson fills a vacancy created by the resignation of Mark
Pifher.
Gunderson, 49, who is a geologist and who has been a Department
of Public Health and Environment employee since 1989, has served as the
department’s Rocky Flats project coordinator since 1998 .In that position, he
has been responsible for ensuring that the cleanup at Rocky Flats is conducted
in accordance with the requirements of the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement.
Benevento said, “During Gunderson’s tenure as the state’s lead
on Rocky Flats, tremendous progress has been made in cleaning up and closing the
site. The expected schedule for completing the cleanup has been significantly
reduced while maintaining strict safety and environmental requirements and
saving taxpayer dollars. The physical cleanup work should be completed in the
fall and will be the largest cleanup completion in the 25-year history of the
federal Superfund program.”
In connection with Rocky Flats, Gunderson directed
multi-disciplinary staff from the department and worked closely with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; the U.S. Department of Energy; and community
leaders.
Gunderson also represented the State of Colorado in national and
in Rocky Flats site wide policy and budget discussions with the Department of
Energy and with other states that have Department of Energy facilities. These
discussions have concerned environmental remediation; decontamination and
decommissioning; and nuclear and hazardous waste transportation and disposal.
He previously served as director of the department’s Emergency
Management Program and as an environmental compliance officer for the
department’s Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division.
Prior to joining the department, he worked as a geologist in the
private sector.
Gunderson holds a bachelor’s degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.,
and a Master’s of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
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