Bham News Editorial April 2010 ADEMs" New Head"

OUR VIEW: Alabama's new environmental chief should have nowhere to go but up after his predecessor's troubled reign, but stay tuned

By Birmingham News editorial board
April 21, 2010, 5:40AM

A state board's pick to be Alabama's top environmental regulator ought to be feeling pretty confident, for the most part, about his new job. Talk about an easy act to follow.

Lance LeFleur, who was named Friday as the director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, succeeds Trey Glenn, who had a knack for making the wrong kind of headlines.

That doesn't mean LeFleur won't face challenges of his own. He seems to understand that. "I don't go in with any illusions," he told News reporter Thomas Spencer.

Good. Because the agency LeFleur will lead has had issues that go beyond Glenn. In particular, ADEM has a reputation for being too cozy with the companies it is supposed to regulate. Among other things, environmentalists have asked federal regulators to take over enforcement of water pollution laws, saying ADEM is unable or unwilling to do the job.

One current concern on that front: The ADEM board's chairwoman is the top lobbyist for the Business Council of Alabama, whose members include a number of companies the state agency is supposed to regulate. The chairwoman, Anita Archie, did not attend the meeting at which LeFleur was hired. But her competing and, we believe, conflicting roles could put LeFleur in awkward positions as well.

Further lowering expectations, LeFleur was the choice of Gov. Bob Riley -- LeFleur's wife is Riley's executive assistant -- and the governor has not been a friend to those who want to see ADEM take a stronger stance on protecting the environment.

Riley described LeFleur as an innovator in recycling and waste-to-energy initiatives, and said he has "the right background, knowledge and high-level experience to lead ADEM forward." While LeFleur indeed has 20 years experience running a recycling business, it is not yet certain whether that prepared him for a large bureaucracy such as ADEM. LeFleur's Materials Recovery Corp. employed 10 people; ADEM employs 600.

So, as LeFleur readily acknowledges, there will be challenges.

But this much he has going for him from day one: He is not Trey Glenn. Though Glenn was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, his conduct while seeking the ADEM job became the subject of an ethics investigation. After he won the position, he forfeited credibility by accepting a baseball outing from Alabama Power Co., whose pollution ADEM is supposed to regulate. Glenn also bought a $2.4 million airplane the agency probably didn't need and surely couldn't afford. Worse, he tried for a while to keep the public in the dark about its use.

We don't know whether LeFleur was the best person for the job. But when we look back at Glenn's time at the agency, we do get a sense of hope. LeFleur should have nowhere to go but up.

Kudos to Mr. Blalock for reporting on this.

There is still the issue of Scott Phillips at the EMC and his profiting from the JeffCo SWMA incident. ADEM is going to do what the EMC and big business tells them to do as they have always done, no matter who is heading it.

Mr. Blalock says to "stay tuned" on this story, but that is what the real problem is with ADEM; when you turn off the TV it is still on the same channel when you turn it back on again.

Both agencies are wholly rife with corruption, unduly influenced and in need of major reform for any real changes to be effective for Alabama's citizens.

*Also see the new link to right on PACs under Bham News Editorials April 2010; "No change on PACs until voters demand it"