Interview with Bob Lord, April 15, 2016

Partial Transcript: State your full name and where...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about his childhood as he grew up in Chicago during the 1960's. Lord recalls that the waterways around his home were polluted, a fact which spurred his interest in the life sciences. Lord talks about his academic history as he obtained an undergraduate degree in biology and a master's from the University of Michigan.

Keywords: Chicago, Illinois; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Illinois Natural History Survey; University of Michigan; nature

Partial Transcript: What were your impressions of that...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about some of the projects he assisted with at the University of Michigan, including his master's project. Lord describes his PhD, and his decision to enter the workforce instead of academia. After the passing of several environmental protection laws, Lord recalls that he was hired by the Environmental Protection Agency of Georgia for the enforcement of the Clean Water Act.

Keywords: Clean Water Act; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Safe Drinking Water Act; University of Michigan; pollution; regulation; water testing

Partial Transcript: So we would....

Segment Synopsis: Lord continues to describe the work he conducted while working for Georgia's sector of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) in the enforcement of the Clean Water Act, solid waste management, and air quality monitoring. Lord discusses the evolution of Georgia's waste management system, including the implementation of sanitary waste management. Lord talks about his first impressions of Georgia.

Keywords: Air quality; Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Environmental Protection Division (EPD); regulation

Partial Transcript: And a lot of times, people kept...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about the hazardous practices of trailer park owners in water management. Lord describes the process of regulating the management of these water systems as an EPD environmental specialist. Lord explains the organization of the state and federal government in the implementation of environmental acts.

Keywords: Clean Water Act; Environmental Protection Division (EPD); Safe Drinking Act; regulation

Partial Transcript: There was some funny stories...

Segment Synopsis: Lord relates some of the negligent water management practices employed by Georgians over his career with the Environmental Protection Division. Lord describes his day-to-day of his life working with the EPD and talks about the environmental changes that took place in Georgia during his time in Georgia.

Keywords: Environmental Protection Division (EPD); Jekyll Island; environmental regulation

Partial Transcript: When I transferred to Atlanta...

Segment Synopsis: Lord describes the research he conducted in Atlanta water pollution through the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) along with his regional regulation work in community water management. Lord discusses the air quality problems of Brunswick, Georgia.

Keywords: Brunswick, Georgia; Panola Shoals; Superfund Sites; air pollution; community water systems; regulation; water pollution

Partial Transcript: And so, just one more thing down at the coast...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about the shellfish sanitation program he participated in while working for the Environmental Protection Division. Lord discusses the types of contaminates that could effect fish consumption in Georgia and the difficulty in linking illness to the consumption of water toxins through fish. Lord discusses some of the environmental injustices he witnessed as a member of the EPD.

Keywords: Environmental Protection Division (EPD); class discrimination; fish consumption; landfill placement; water pollution

Partial Transcript: What years exactly were you down on...

Segment Synopsis: Lord continues his discussion on the work he conducted in Atlanta through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Lord talks about the process of data collection in the regulation of Atlanta's water pollution. Lord describes the nature of his jobs as he conducted technical work and rarely interacted with industrial companies that were polluting Atlanta rivers.

Keywords: Atlanta, Georgia; Environmental Protection Division (EPD); Water treatment; lakes; rivers; water quality

Partial Transcript: What were the most problematic lakes...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about the technical regulation work he conducted on Atlanta's lakes. Lord relates some severe pollution instances he encountered in which pollution threatened the safety of fish consumption. Lord explains that despite having polluted lakes, regional governments still had problems in obtaining the funding for lake cleanups. Lord talks about the problems in Atlanta concerning watershed management.

Keywords: Atlanta, Georgia; Environmental Protection Division (EPD); fish consumption; lakes; water regulation; watershed management

Partial Transcript: Toward the end...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about the citizen monitoring programs for water management, and some of the issues associated with the programs. Lord recalls his transition to working for the Environmental Protection Division as a regulator of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in shellfish marinas.

Keywords: Adopt-a-Lake; Citizen Monitoring Programs; Clean Water Act; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Environmental Protection Division (EPD); National Environmental Policy Act; environmental impact statement

Partial Transcript: So the practice ended...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about the negative water management practices conducted by Florida in canal construction. Lord explains the work he conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as he assisted in grant distribution for marina water quality management. Lord expands upon additional work he conducted, such as the implementation of wetland protection.

Keywords: Clean Water Act; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Wetland protection; coastal water management

Partial Transcript: And then, so, what was a wetland?

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about some of the term legality problems associated with the protection of wetlands in the United States. Lord describes his role in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an enforcer and regulator of wetland restoration. Lord recalls some of the citizen programs that assisted water monitoring such as the Chattahoochee River Keepers.

Keywords: Chattahoochee River Keeper; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Georgia Department of Transportation (DoT); James Holland; environmental regulation; wetland protection; wetland restoration

Partial Transcript: How was the opinion of EPA in general...

Segment Synopsis: Lord talks about the helpful nature of water citizen monitoring programs. Lord recalls some of the difficulties he had with confronting the ill-management of water systems. Lord discusses the rise of mitigation banking industry, which provided the wetland restoration services required after a wetland's destruction.

Keywords: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); mitigation banking industry