George S. Hawkins (lawyer) explained

George S. Hawkins is an American lawyer, college professor and environmentalist. He served as general manager of the DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) from 2009 to 2017.[1] Hawkins has worked in the environmental industry, as a corporate lawyer and as a regulator.

He was named to his post at DC Water in a unanimous vote September 3, 2009 by the board of directors.[2] With an operating and capital budget of nearly $800 million, DC Water provides drinking water delivery and wastewater collection and treatment for a population of more than 600,000 in the District of Columbia, as well as the millions of people who work in or visit the District. DC Water also treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. The Authority operates the world's largest advanced wastewater treatment plant at Blue Plains.[3]

Education

George Sherman Hawkins was born to Edward Jackson Hawkins and Barbara Rollo Hawkins in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1983 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1987.[4] Since 1999, Hawkins has taught Environmental Law and Policy for the Princeton Environment Institute at Princeton University.[3] [5]

Career

Hawkins began his career practicing law for the Boston firm Ropes & Gray, and is a member of the Bar in both Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Early in his career, Hawkins served as Executive Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association and held senior posts with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) including Senior Assistant Regional Counsel and Special Assistant to the Regional Administrator. He served Vice President Al Gore on the National Performance Review, and worked in environmental protection programs at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Hawkins was Executive Director of New Jersey Future, a non-profit organization which, under his leadership, advocated earnestly for smart growth.[6] While there, Hawkins worked with Governor Jon Corzine's office to develop transit stations in urban areas.[6] [7]

He then moved to the District of Columbia to head the District Department of the Environment.[8] Hawkins led a project by the District to reduce childhood exposure to lead hazards.[9] He negotiated and oversaw the implementation of the nation's most stringent federal permit[10] to reduce pollutants from stormwater runoff. He managed the nation's a low-income energy assistance program, including energy conservation and home weatherization.[11] Hawkins launched and chaired the Mayor's Green Team, which coordinates the District Government's internal sustainability program across more than 40 agencies.[12] He also launched the Mayor's Green Summer Job Corps, a program serving several hundred District youth providing summer jobs in environmental cleanups and public education.[13]

Hawkins served as the Chair of the Green Building Advisory Council,[14] which oversees the implementation of the District's green building law. He was also a member of the Mayor's Green Collar Jobs Advisory Committee.[15] Since September 2009, Hawkins has been the general manager for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water).[2] At DC Water, Hawkins launched an agenda to improve aging infrastructure and comply with newer, more stringent regulatory requirements. DC Water is designing and implementing a $2.6 billion program, the Clean Rivers Project, to nearly eliminate overflows of sewage and stormwater to the Anacostia, Potomac and Rock Creek[16] DC Water is also investing $950 million to achieve the next level of nutrient reductions to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.

In addition, DC Water is implementing a $400 million digester program to help manage solids being removed from reclaimed water that will become the region's biggest source of renewable energy,[17] reduce the volume of biosolids by almost half. The digester project will be the first in North America to use the thermal hydrolysis in the treatment process, and the largest installation in the world to use CAMBI's thermal hydrolysis process. Finally, general manager Hawkins has gained approval from the board of directors to triple the rate of DC Water's program to replace water and sewer infrastructure, much of which was installed generations ago.

At DC Water, he launched the "Team Blue" improvement program, connected to the "BlueStat" process to evaluate business processes with benchmarks and performance statistics. Hawkins is also working with local and national environmental advocates to achieve the water quality improvements.[3]

On the subject of Hawkins' selection, DC Water Board chairman William M. Walker said, "We needed someone who can think strategically, who understands the significant environmental issues that [DC Water] faces." "Who better than a general manager who has a law degree from Harvard, who has worked for the EPA, and has run the [city environment department]?"[18]

Honors and awards

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DC Water CEO/General Manager Hawkins to Step Down in December DCWater.com. dcwater.com. October 16, 2019.
  2. News: D.C. Environmental Chief to Lead WASA. The Washington Post. September 4, 2009. November 17, 2010.
  3. Web site: George Hawkins Biography. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323203038/https://www.dcwater.com/about/hawkins.cfm. dead. March 23, 2016. October 16, 2019.
  4. Web site: Princeton Environmental Institute. February 1, 2011.
  5. Web site: Princeton Website. November 17, 2010.
  6. Web site: "The Candidates Speak on Smarter Growth", New Jersey Future Newsletter, Issue #4 2005. February 1, 2011.
  7. Web site: Is transit-oriented development the answer?. New Jersey Real Estate Report. Courier News . February 1, 2011.
  8. Web site: District Department of the Environment. November 4, 2010 .
  9. Web site: DDOE. November 4, 2010.
  10. Web site: DDOE.EPA. January 21, 2011.
  11. Web site: Weatherization. November 4, 2010 .
  12. Web site: Mayor Green Team . November 4, 2010 .
  13. Web site: Mayor's Green Summer Job Corps . January 18, 2011 .
  14. Web site: Green Building Advisory Council. November 4, 2010 .
  15. Web site: DC Invests in Green Collar Jobs. January 21, 2011.
  16. News: Sopan Joshi . A Mandatory Sewage Plan In Search of Federal Funding; D.C. Residents Would Pay If Government Won't . The Washington Post . September 26, 2008 . B1 . .
  17. Web site: Advancing water-sector technology. pwmag.com. January 19, 2011.
  18. Web site: Best of DC. Washington City Paper. https://web.archive.org/web/20100401063957/http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc/2010/peopleandplaces/indepth/best-new-hire. dead. April 1, 2010. October 16, 2019.
  19. Web site: Introducing the 2016 WEF Awards Recipients WEF News. October 16, 2019.
  20. Web site: D.C. In Depth: Best New Hire. DeBonis. Mike. https://web.archive.org/web/20100401063957/http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc/2010/peopleandplaces/indepth/best-new-hire. dead. April 1, 2010. October 16, 2019.
  21. Web site: Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space Summer 2005. January 31, 2011.
  22. Web site: New Jersey Water Supply Authority Watershed Protection Programs Raritan Basin Watershed Management Project The Basin Bulletin Issue #8, Fall 2004. January 31, 2011.
  23. Web site: National Partnership for Reinventing Government Hammer Award Database. February 1, 2011.
  24. Web site: Report to President Bill Clinton by Vice President Al Gore and the National Performance Review, September 1996. February 1, 2011.
  25. Web site: "The Race for Space: The Politics and Economics of State Open Space Programs", the Policy Research Institute for the Region, Woodroow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. February 1, 2011.
  26. Web site: River Voices, Vol. 14 – Number 3, December 2004, The River Network. February 1, 2011.
  27. Web site: A Municipal Stormwater Rule Primer, George S. Hawkins, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. February 1, 2011.
  28. Web site: 2001 EPA STAR/NSF/USDA Water and Watersheds Progress Review, San Francisco CA, April 19 – 21 2001, US EPA Office of Research and Development EPA/600/R-01/014. February 2, 2011.
  29. Web site: "The Risks and Advantages of Agency Discretion: Evidence from the EPA's Project XL" Susskind, Lawrence E.; Secunda Joshua UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, June 22, 1999 (available via www.lexis.com) . http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20010925043709/http://www.lexis.com/ . dead . September 25, 2001 . February 1, 2011 .

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