News Release

Iani Announces Resignation as EPA Region 10 Administrator

July 21, 2004


John Iani, the Regional Administrator of the EPA’s Region 10 office, announced today that he will leave his position on August 7 after almost three years leading the agency’s work in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Iani, an attorney, will return to the private sector to practice law.

EPA Deputy Regional Administrator, Ron Kreizenbeck, a 30-plus year veteran of the agency, will serve as Acting Regional Administrator until a replacement is appointed.

Last week Iani informed President Bush and EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt of his intent to leave the agency. In a note to EPA employees, Iani said, “In my letters to both the President and the Administrator I expressed my deep gratitude for having been afforded the opportunity to serve the Agency and the public over the past three years in protecting human health and the environment . . . ”

Iani was appointed by President Bush in September of 2001 after spending eight years at UniSea, the Redmond, Washington-based seafood processing company where he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

During his tenure at the EPA, Iani became involved in some of the agency’s thorniest issues such as cleanup of the Coeur d’Alene Basin, Hanford, oil and gas exploration, salvage logging, sediment cleanup in Commencement Bay, sewage and stormwater in Portland, field burning in Idaho, and metals contamination in Lake Roosevelt.

One of Iani’s crowning achievements at the EPA was signing the agency’s Record of Decision (ROD) for cleanup of what is officially called the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex Operating Unit 3, after decades of often vitriolic controversy. That ROD, which will guide cleanup work at contaminated sites in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin, had been highly controversial until Iani helped broker an agreement among local governments, environmental groups, the Idaho and Washington congressional delegations, Washington Governor Gary Locke, and Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne.

“I obviously have mixed feelings about leaving this position, Iani said. “I often tell family and friends that I can scarcely think of a more compelling job than that of Regional Administrator.”

Iani closed his note to EPA employees with, “I thank you for the extraordinary experience of a lifetime.”
Point of contact: Bill Dunbar
E-Mail: dunbar.bill@epamail.epa.gov
Phone Number: (206) 553-1203
Last Updated: 08/25/2004