PICAYUNE FEEDBACK?

Assistant Administrator of OSWER Gathering Feedback from Picayune, Mississippi Community

Contact: Laura Niles, 404-562-8353, niles.laura@epa.gov or Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. - November 10, 2009) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Assistant Administrator of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), Mathy Stanislaus, will be visiting Picayune, Miss. Saturday, November 14, 2009, to meet with community members and take suggestions on improving transparency in EPA decision-making for hazardous waste cleanups in Mississippi and across the country. The city of Picayune and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have partnered with EPA to sponsor this event.

The day's activities will include an availability session for community members to meet with EPA, MDEQ and the city of Picayune., followed by the Community Listening Session with Mr. Stanislaus. Mr. Stanislaus will also tour the Picayune Wood Treating Superfund site and the Picayune Town Center, a Brownfields site.

Mr. Stanislaus has an extensive background working with communities to advance environmental protection through community collaboration. His goals for the visit to Picayune are to get feedback on how EPA's process for developing and issuing policy, rules, or guidance can be more open to gain insight from community groups and citizens' experience; how EPA can develop better strategies for handling waste or cleaning up contaminated sites; and how EPA can enhance or redesign the public processes used at individual cleanup sites so communities are more fully informed and consulted.

Attendees will include Mathy Stanislaus, EPA Assistant Administrator of OSWER; Stan Meiburg, EPA Acting Regional Administrator; Franklin Hill, EPA Region 4 Superfund Division Director; Trudy Fisher, Executive Director of MDEQ; and Ed Pinero, Mayor, City of Picayune (tentative).

Agenda for Saturday, November 14, 2009:

1:45 pm - 2:45 pm:       Mr. Stanislaus, MDEQ and local officials tour the Picayune Wood Treating Site.

NOTE: If members of the media wish to take the tour, please contact Laura Niles, EPA Public Affairs, at niles.laura@epa.gov or (404) 562-8353.

1:45 pm - 2:45 pm:       Concurrent Community Availability Session with representatives from EPA, MDEQ and the City of Picayune.

                                    South Side Upper Elementary School Library

1500 Rosa St.

Picayune, MS

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm:       Community Listening Session with Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus

                                    South Side Upper Elementary School Cafetorium

                                    1500 Rosa. St.

                                    Picayune, MS