Beth Admire, IDEM
Beth Admire has worked for IDEM for 23 years. She is currently an attorney in IDEM’s Office of Legal Counsel handling matters in Federal litigation for the Offices of Water Quality and Land Quality. She has been the State Natural Resource Co-Trustee since 1999. She lead restoration efforts in the East and West Branches of the Grand Calumet River.
Fred Andes, Barnes & Thornburg
Fredric Andes is a partner of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and the leader of the firm’s water team. He advises trade associations, industries, and municipalities on water quality matters on state and Federal levels. He is coordinator of the Federal Water Quality Coalition, a broad group of regulated parties that interacts with US EPA on the development of CWA regulations and policies. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law and obtained his undergraduate degree from Northwestern Univ.
Frank Capic, PE, Burns and McDonnell
Mr. Capic is a Licensed PE with over 20 years of experience in environmental and civil engineering consulting. His experience is with the management, investigation and design of environmental remediation of impacted properties; and the management of groundwater treatment and product recovery systems. Other experience includes investigation & remediation of emergency response spills, petroleum system removals and replacements, LUST investigation and closures, and compliance services such as SWPPPs, SPCCs and NDPES permits.
Renee Cipriano, Schiff Hardin
Ms. Cipriano is Deputy Practice Group Leader and partner in Schiff Hardin’s Environmental Group and focuses her practice on providing environmental strategic planning and counseling on statutory and regulatory requirements, litigation & compliance. Her work includes providing high level assessment of legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives at National, state and local levels. She handles complex regulatory authorization/permitting matters; government approvals; enforcement; third party litigation; public hearings/community outreach; and crisis management. She previously served as the director of IEPA. She is a graduate of Loyola Univ. Chicago and Loyola Univ. Chicago School of Law.
Daniel Deeb, Schiff Hardin
Dan’s practice includes all facets of environmental law: permitting, compliance and litigation, including Federal and state cases involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA, CERCLA, brownfields redevelopment, and state analogs. Before practicing law, Dan worked as a senior chemist for an environmental consulting firm and clerked for US EPA’s OECA.
Mark Denzler, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association
Mark Denzler is Vice President & COO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. Denzler recently led successful efforts to pass hydraulic fracturing legislation, revamp the air permitting process at Illinois EPA, extend Enterprise Zones, and extend critical tax incentives including the Research & Development tax credit. He is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and has been appointed by the past two Governors to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board.
Bryce Feighner, Michigan DEQ
Bryce Feighner is Chief of the Office of Waste Management and Radiological Protection in the Department of Environmental Quality. OWMRP is charged with implementing state and Federal waste programs as well as Gov. Snyder’s Residential Recycling Plan. Bryce has been with DEQ for 25 years and has a broad range of education and experience across many DEQ programs. He is a graduate of Michigan State Univ. with a Bachelor’s degree in BioSystems Engineering and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering.
Lynn Fiedler, Michigan DEQ
Lynn Fiedler is the Chief of the Air Quality Division for the MI Department of Environmental Quality. Lynn has spent over 25 years in the air program, most of that time in permitting. She was instrumental in the redesign of the Permit to Install program, reducing permitting time by over 60%. Lynn has a BS in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University.
Kenneth Gold, Honigman
Kenneth Gold is a partner in the law firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP and the leader of its environmental practice. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Michigan Super Lawyers for environmental law. He earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers Univ. and his JD from the Univ. of PA.
Sean Grady, GHD
Sean is the Service Line Leader of GHD’s Waste Services and has over 20 years of regulatory, environmental remediation, and compliance consulting experience. He oversees staff located in several offices throughout the United States and Canada. Sean is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager.
Cindy Hafner, Ohio EPA
Prior to being Chief Legal Counsel, Cindy Hafner was the Chief of the Div. of Environmental Response and Revitalization at OEPA. Cindy has worked at Ohio EPA since 1988 where she has been a staff attorney, a supervising attorney and a manager in DERR. Prior to joining Ohio EPA, Cindy worked in a general practice firm in Cincinnati. Cindy holds a BS from Heidelberg College, an MS from Kent State University and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Susan Hedman, US EPA Region 5
Susan Hedman was appointed EPA Region 5 Administrator on Earth Day 2010.She directs EPA’s operations in the 6-state Great Lakes region. She leads a team of >1,000 scientists, engineers, lawyers, environmental specialists and administrative staff. As Great Lakes National Program Manager, she oversees restoration and protection of the largest freshwater system in the world. She also served as head of the US delegation that negotiated the 2012 amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Susan was environmental counsel and senior assistant attorney general in the IL AGO, where she focused on litigation and legislation relating to environmental protection, energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon capture technology and associated consumer issues. Susan was chief legal officer for the Geneva-based United Nations Compensation Commission tribunal that handled claims for environmental damage from the oil fires in Kuwait and releases of oil in the Persian Gulf. She has a PhD from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, a MA from the La Follette School of Public Affairs and a JD from the School of Law at the Univ. of WI.
Bill Hefner, The Environmental Law Group, Ltd.
Bill Hefner is a partner with The Environmental Law Group, Ltd. where he advises clients in all major aspects of environmental law, with a focus on air, water, contaminated properties and environmental review issues. Bill has been named to the lists of Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America, and was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to the MN Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board.
Liane Hetherington-Ward, Schreiber, Yonley & Associates/Trinity Consultants
Liane is a Senior Engineer with SYA/Trinity. She assists companies in addressing their environmental compliance & policy issues, with a particular focus on RCRA. Her strengths are the definition of solid waste & its nuances and history; regulatory interpretation; hazardous waste permitting; and strategically addressing regulatory developments & policy implications.
David Hindin, US EPA
Mr. Hindin has held a variety of staff and management positions in US EPA, including litigating water enforcement cases, developing enforcement policies such as the SEP Policy, managing data analytics and performance measurement, and leading the development of electronic reporting tools for the NPDES and TRI programs. He is the career manager leading EPA’s Next Generation Compliance Initiative. David has a BS from Univ. of Michigan, an MA in psychology from Arizona State Univ., and a JD from Cal Berkeley.
Tinka Hyde, US EPA Region 5
Tinka G. Hyde is Director of US EPA Region 5’s Water Division. Her responsibilities include managing the implementation of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and all related water programs. She has over 29 years of experience on projects and policy covering Superfund, Water & Enforcement programs.
John Iwanski, Trinity Consultants
John Iwanski is a director with Trinity Consultants in Trinity’s office in suburban Oakbrook Terrace, IL. John conducts project management and senior technical consulting for a number of air quality projects ranging from complex permitting projects such as PSD, nonattainment NSR, and Title V permits, to regulatory reviews for planned changes at a facility, compliance audits, hazardous air pollutant regulations, and greenhouse gas emissions reporting strategies. John is also an instructor for Trinity’s state and custom seminars. John directs Trinity’s consulting operations across the northern and western US and Canada.
Lee Johnson, Honigman
S. Lee Johnson is a seasoned attorney with more than 20 years of significant experience counseling large and small manufacturers, real estate developers, mining firms and utilities regarding environmental regulation, with particular emphasis on air pollution regulation and the environmental aspects of commercial transactions. A graduate of the Univ. of MI Law School, he is also past chair of the State Bar of MI Environmental Law Section and the East MI Chapter of AWMA.
Rob Kaleel, LADCO
Rob Kaleel is the Executive Director of the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium. LADCO is a regional air quality planning organization whose members include the air agencies in IL, IN, MI, MN, OH & WI. LADCO provides a forum for its member states to discuss regional air quality issues. It also provides technical assessments for its member states. Prior to joining LADCO, Rob worked more than 30 years in the Air Quality Planning Section at Illinois EPA.
Bob Kaplan, US EPA Region 5
Robert Kaplan is the Deputy Regional Administrator for the US EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago. Prior to his current position, he was Regional Counsel at Region 5, responsible for advising on environmental law, government ethics, contracts, grants, employment and labor law, tribal law, and information law. Bob was a Division Director at EPA Headquarters, and a Senior Counsel for the environmental enforcement section at the US Department of Justice. Originally from Boston, he is a graduate of Carleton College and the Univ. of PA Law School.
Tiffani Kavalec, Ohio EPA
Tiffani Kavalec has been Ohio EPA’s Division of Surface Water Chief since August, 2015. She began at Ohio EPA in 1995 as an Environmental Specialist in the Division of Environmental Response & Revitalization negotiating State and Federal superfund actions. She later became the manager of the Site Assessment and Brownfield Revitalization Program. She was manager of DERR’s Assessment, Cleanup and Reuse section and Assistant Chief in DSW, directly overseeing NPDES, PTI, stormwater, 401, Isolated Wetlands, and Enforcement & Compliance.
Sarah Kilgriff, MPCA
Sarah obtained her degree in Environmental Science from the Univ. of MN and has worked for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for the last 14 years. She spent her first two years at the MPCA coordinating facility emissions testing, after which she became an inspector, and subsequently the Supervisor of the Air Quality Compliance and Enforcement unit. When not at work she enjoys riding, training and showing paint and quarter horses at local and regional events.
Nancy King, IDEM
Nancy King, Chief of the Rules Development Branch in IDEM’s Office of Legal Counsel, has been an attorney at IDEM for 23 years, working primarily in areas of regulatory development through both the regulatory and legislative processes. She has been the attorney for the IDEM co-trustee of Indiana’s NRDA program and has worked extensively with all IDEM regulatory programs.
Julianne Kurdilla, ArcelorMittal
Julianne Kurdila is in the Environmental Group at ArcelorMittal, where she analyzes environmental regulatory issues on Federal and state levels. She served as an attorney at OH EPA & the cities of Cleveland and Atlanta. For 25 years she has worked on regulatory, aviation, utilities, and brownfield issues.
Hala Kuss, IDEM
Hala Kuss has been with IN Department of Environmental Management since 1995.She serves as Director of the Northwest Regional Office, in Valparaiso. She previously served first as staff attorney and then Enforcement & Litigation Section Chief in the Office of Legal Counsel. She earned her JD from IN Univ. in 1994.
Olivia Lucas, Faegre Baker Daniels
Olivia Lucas is counsel in Faegre Baker Daniels’ environmental group. She focuses on solving regulatory, compliance and enforcement issues for business clients of all sizes. She concentrates on CAA and CWA issues before state and Federal agencies nationwide, with particular experience in EPA Regions 5 and 8. She earned her JD from Univ. of Colorado School of Law and her BA from Harvard.
Francis Lyons, Schiff Hardin
Francis Lyons is a Partner at Schiff Hardin. He provides strategic counseling in environmental law matters, with an emphasis on regulatory compliance under state and Federal law, including government enforcement actions, citizens’ suits, permit negotiations and appeals, project development, brownfields redevelopment, environmental compliance audits and due diligence. He previously served as Regional Administrator, US EPA Region 5, as a Trial Attorney with the US Department of Justice, and as an Assistant IL Attorney General.
Steven Nadeau, Honigman
Steven C. Nadeau, Coordinating Director of the SMWG and a member of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn’s Environmental Practice Group, has a substantial national sediment practice, working on sediment issues since 1992. He was instrumental in founding the Sediment Management Work Group in 1998 and has served as its Coordinating Director since. He assists clients on major sediment sites around the US, providing strategic advice supporting use of risk-based principles set forth in contaminated sediment policy. He is a cum laude graduate of Boston College Law School and magna cum laude graduate of Boston College.
Chris Nelson, 3M
Chris Nelson is the Environmental Permitting Manager for 3M, working on permitting and compliance activities for global 3M manufacturing sites. Prior to joining 3M, Chris served for thirteen years as a manager and engineer at MPCA. He is a Vice President for AWMA. Chris is a professional chemical engineer in MN.
Peter Ostlund, MDEQ
Peter obtained a BS in Civil Engineering and an MS in Sanitary Engineering from MI State Univ. He has worked for the MI Department of Environmental Quality for over 35 years, all of that time on water issues, including surface water monitoring, NPDES permit development, and compliance and enforcement. Currently, he is an Assistant Division Chief for the Water Resources Division. Peter has been involved in development of several of the WRD’s databases and is currently helping oversee the implementation and further development the MiWaters database.
Kevin Perry, REGFORM
kperry@regform.org
Kevin is Assistant Director at REGFORM, a MO business association focused entirely on State environmental regulations & policies. He is a registered lobbyist & holds a B.S. degree in biology. He has over 21 years of experience, including work as a biologist at US EPA Office of Water. He sings in the choir at church.
Ken Podpeskar, The Environmental Law Group, Ltd.
Ken Podpeskar is a partner with The Environmental Law Group, Ltd. He concentrates his practice on compliance counseling, spill reporting and remediation, Superfund cleanups, property transfers, and solid and hazardous waste issues. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ken worked as an engineer at MPCA. With his unique background, Ken routinely conducts facility compliance audits for clients by making an onsite visit and reviewing records to prepare for inspections.
Jeff Pope, Burns and McDonnell
Mr. Pope is the Manager of Facility Decommissioning & Demolition Services. He earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Univ. of WI-Madison. He is a licensed PE. Mr. Pope has >30 years experience providing environmental services, including landfill design and soil/groundwater remediation. His recent focus is providing utilities and power cooperatives assistance for decommissioning and demolition of fossil fuel-fired power plants, including ash pond and landfill closure.
Michelle L. Redfield, PE, CHMM, Schneider Electric
As the North American Director for Environment and Safety/Environment Process Improvement for Schneider Electric, Michelle and her team direct environmental and sustainability initiatives and strategy, leading environmental and safety programs such as compliance, management systems, water reduction, waste minimization and recycling, data management and environmental recognition.
Michael Reece, BS, GHD
Mr. Reece is an environmental scientist with GHD with over 25 years of experience in environmental compliance and due diligence. His experience includes EPCRA, RCRA, NPDES, SPCC, CFATS, storage tank regulations, emergency response plans, ISO 14001, pollution prevention, building decommissioning, asbestos inspections, and environmental compliance audits. Mr. Reece has also conducted or supervised over 350 environmental site assessments in the U.S.
Jim Ross, IEPA
Mr. Ross is Manager of the Div. of Air Pollution Control at IL Environmental Protection Agency. He supervises >140 engineers, and specialists and oversees the Bureau’s operations on permitting, air quality planning, air monitoring, field inspections, and compliance. Jim has provided training on air pollution regulations and permitting to IEPA, US EPA, industry, environmental consulting firms, environmental organizations, and the public. In his 27 years with IEPA, he has worked with businesses, citizens, and government entities on regulation of air emission sources and strategies, measures and controls used to address them.
Matt Schroeder, Charter Steel
Matt Schroeder is the Division Environmental Manager for Charter Steel, a division of Charter Manufacturing Company. Matt has been with Charter Steel for 15 years and has been actively engaged on environmental issues affecting the steel industry throughout that time. Matt is a lifelong resident of Wisconsin and currently resides in Sheboygan with his wife and daughter.
David Shanks, Boeing
David Shanks is an Environmental Policy Analyst for The Boeing Company, monitoring and responding to state rulemaking activity in Boeing-host states other than Washington, Oregon, and California. He is a member of the Missouri Bar, with law degrees from Saint Louis University and Vermont Law School. He teaches environmental law as an adjunct instructor at Saint Louis University.
Mark Stanifer, IDEM
Mr. Stanifer graduated from Univ. of Indianapolis with majors in Biology and Earth Science. He works for the IDEM, 10 years as NPDES permit writer, & 22 years as Chief of Office of Water Quality Enforcement Section. For 3 years he has been Chief of the Office of Water Quality Compliance Branch.
Nick Steinke, Tellevate
Mr. Steinke is a Principal and Compliance Services Manager at Tellevate. He provides EHS management and compliance program support, including multi-media environmental compliance, management system and PSM/RMP auditing services. He holds a BS in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston Univ., is a registered Environmental PE, a Certified Professional Environmental and Management Systems Auditor, and a Certified Sustainable Facility Professional.
Pat Stevens, WDNR
Pat Stevens is the administrator of the Environmental Management Division at the Wisconsin DNR, where he has served since 2011. Pat had approximately 20 years of experience with DNR programs as general counsel for the Wisconsin Builders Association, counsel for the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association and environmental policy director for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
Jeff Stollenwerk, MPCA
Jeff Stollenwerk has bachelor degrees in chemistry and aquatic biology from Bemidji State Univ. A majority of Jeff’s 25 years at the MN Pollution Control Agency involved work on various water quality permitting, compliance and enforcement activities. He is currently the Industrial Water Section Manager with State-wide responsibilities. Jeff and his family live near Duluth.
Laurel Sukup, WDNR
Ms. Sukup is Section Chief for Business Support at Wisconsin DNR. She directs a program dedicated to specific industry sectors & small business support. Drawing on her experience growing up in family businesses and her work for Wisconsin’s Department of Commerce, her goal is to provide clarity around regulatory requirements and support companies working towards environmental outcomes.
Ryan Sweetwood, Burns and McDonnell
Mr. Sweetwood is a Staff Environmental Scientist with more than 9 years of environmental and construction experience. His areas of expertise include mining, construction, demolition, project management, design, permitting, environmental compliance, surface and groundwater monitoring, environmental site assessments, water treatment, reclamation, and soil science.
Valerie Tachtiris, IDEM
Valerie Tachtiris has been an environmental attorney for the State of Indiana for over a decade. She is Deputy General Counsel for Indiana Department of Environmental Management, as well as program counsel for the Agency’s Office of Air Quality. She served eight years as Deputy Attorney General in the Environmental Litigation section of the Indiana AGO. Valerie graduated from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2003.
Joseph Tell, Tellevate
Mr. Tell is owner/Director of Tellevate. He has 20 years of experience providing EHS & sustainability consulting services to commercial and government clients. He specializes in ISO 14001 implementation, auditing, and leveraging IT to solve EHS management challenges. He has a BS in Civil Eng. from Northwestern Univ.
Marcy Twete, ArcelorMittal
Ms. Twete is the Division Manager, Corporate Responsibility and the Executive Director of the USA Foundation for ArcelorMittal. She is responsible for implementing sustainability initiatives in Canada, the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil and Argentina. She manages a team responsible for nearly $10 million in community investment. Previously, Marcy founded an online resource with >1 million readers dedicated to career advancement for women. She also penned the bestselling book You Know Everybody!
Roger Walker JD, LL.M, REGFORM, RAWalker & Associates LLC
rwalker@regform.org; rwalker@rawalkerassociates.com
Roger has a private legal practice that focuses on permitting, compliance, and enforcement, but spends most of his time managing REGFORM, a business association in MO that works on numerous regulatory matters. In his spare time, he helped organize today’s MECC and teaches a class at St. Louis Univ. He has a JD from UMKC and LLM from Lewis & Clark School of Law.
Adam Ward, Ohio EPA
Adam Ward is Assistant Chief in Ohio EPA’s Division of Air Pollution Control, responsible for Ohio’s Implementation Planning, Ambient Monitoring, and Compliance & Enforcement Programs. He has also been involved in Ohio’s responses to the Clean Power Plan & numerous efficiency initiatives at Ohio EPA.
Marcia Willhite, IEPA
Ms. Willhite is Chief of the Bureau of Water, Illinois EPA. She oversees water pollution control, drinking water, groundwater, watershed management and state revolving fund programs. Ms. Willhite is active in the Association of Clean Water Administrators, serving as its President in 2006-07. Ms. Willhite worked for 13 years in air quality, including program management in TX and NE. She represents IEPA on the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Comm. She has a BS in Wildlife Biology from Eastern KY Univ. and MS in Toxicology from the Univ. of KY.
Andrew Willing 3M
Andrew Willing is an Environmental Specialist for 3M. He has worked in 3M’s Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability organization for the past five years. Andrew supports environmental compliance and performs air permitting for some of 3M’s largest and complex chemical/industrial facilities in the US. He has five years of environmental consulting experience prior to 3M
Dan Wyant, MDEQ
Dan Wyant is Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. He returned to public service 2011. He was director of the MI Dept. of Agriculture for nine years before he departed in 2005 to be President and COO for the Edward Lowe Foundation, where he was in charge of strategic vision for the foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in food systems management from Michigan State Univ. and a MBA from American University in Washington, D.C