New administrators officially took the reins of Georgia’s top environmental agency on Tuesday, with longtime state bureaucrat Richard Dunn formally appointed as director of the state’s Environmental Protection Division.
The action by the state Department of Natural Resources board came a little over a month after Gov. Nathan Deal said he wanted Dunn to replace former director Judson Turner, who resigned after four years of leading the agency.
Environmentalists have taken a wait-and-see approach to the appointment because Dunn, while deeply versed in general state policy issues, has little experience in environmental protection work or oversight. Prior to accepting the job at EPD, Dunn was the deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, and has also worked in other state agencies.
Another pick of Deal’s, Lauren Curry, is also set to become deputy director of EPD. The agency oversees the state’s environmental regulations and enforces pollution permits for air, water and land resources.
Turner, a lawyer, is not leaving government work completely, since he will continue to oversee the state's legal response to a so-called "water war" with Florida and Alabama over use of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers.
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