The Guardian Trust Names Two of Americas Most-Respected Environmentalists -- Former Senior US EPA Officials Timothy Fields, Jr. and Stephen D. Luftig -- to its Trusteeship Board

The Guardian Trust, a public/private partnership established by nationally recognized environmental champion Earth Pledge, announces the appointment of two eminent environmentalists, Timothy Fields, Jr. and Stephen D. Luftig, to its Board of Directors. These distinguished environmental executives add considerable credibility and integrity to the mission of The Guardian Trust, a public/private partnership established to enable trustworthy redevelopment of environmentally contaminated properties.

NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) February 27, 2004 -- The Guardian Trust, a public/private partnership established by nationally recognized environmental champion Earth Pledge, announces the appointment of two eminent environmentalists, Timothy Fields, Jr. and Stephen D. Luftig, to its Board of Directors.

The Guardian Trust, established in January 2004, provides accountable, on-going land use and engineering controls and enables trustworthy redevelopment of environmentally contaminated properties. The addition of Mr. Fields and Mr. Luftig to the board adds to the credibility and strength of The Guardian Trust, and furthers the Trusts mission to provide responsible environmental oversight that meets government mandates.

Tim Fields and Steve Luftig have been important voices and thought-leaders in the effort to establish policies and oversight controls that enable responsible redevelopment of environmentally contaminated properties in the United States," said Theodore W. Kheel, President of Earth Pledge, sponsor of The Guardian Trust. We are thrilled to have them join the Board of The Guardian Trust." Leslie Hoffman, Executive Director of Earth Pledge added, Their participation enhances confidence in the Trust, and will ensure that the activities of the Trust remain true to its mission."

Both Mr. Fields and Mr. Luftig have long and distinguished careers in establishing new approaches to site assessment, cleanup and redevelopment oversight as leaders in the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPAs) Superfund and Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) programs.

In accepting his appointment, Mr. Fields said: This is an unique opportunity to participate in the development of an initiative that creates responsible oversight of environmentally contaminated sites. And, now that Ive joined the private sector, Im even more aware of how many of the initiatives we were developing at the EPA, which involved both the public and private sector, truly serve the interests of both sectors."

Joining in the announcement, Mr. Luftig added: It is critical that we develop opportunities to link remediation with reuse. The ability to put into practice the Institutional and Engineering Controls that have been developed by the EPA, and to expand the ability for effective and efficient oversight for the redevelopment of environmentally contaminated sites, will provide communities with new tools that have been sorely needed for far too long."

This announcement follows last months appointment of Guardian Trust Management Service LLC (GTMS), an affiliate of MGP Environmental Partners LLC (MGP), as administrative managers of The Guardian Trust. Commenting on the appointment of Fields and Luftig, Bruce-Sean Reshen, CEO of GTMS and MGP said: As the dream that is The Guardian Trust now becomes reality, it is hard to imagine that its board has been blessed with not one, but two of the most respected leaders in the environmental movement here in the United States, if not the world."

Fields and Luftig join Leslie Hoffman, Executive Director of Earth Pledge and President of the Trusteeship Board of the Guardian Trust, as Directors of the Board.               

About Timothy Fields, Jr.
Timothy Fields career spans both the public and private sectors, including 30 years with the US Environmental Protection Agency. As EPA Assistant Administrator for OSWER, Mr. Fields provided national direction and oversight of the nations environmental site assessment, cleanup and waste management programs. For 16 years, Mr. Fields served as a member of the Federal governments Senior Executive Service. He was chair of a White House Assistant Secretary-level Steering Committee on Brownfields for four years, a multi-agency committee, overseeing the commitment of significant resources to further the goals of National Brownfields Partnership Action Agenda, which resulted in a $300 million commitment by the Federal government to local communities.

In 1995, Mr. Fields directed the development and implementation of the Administrations Brownfields Action Agenda, which resulted in major steps being taken by the Federal government and communities in the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of Brownfields. From this initiative, more than 500 pilot demonstration grants have been awarded, and investment of over $3 billion by the private sector. Under his direction, EPA also implemented the Superfund Redevelopment Program, the UST Fields Initiative and the RCRA Brownfields Program. Most recently, Mr. Fields joined Tetra Tech EM Inc. as Vice President in charge of its Washington, DC operations.

About Stephen D. Luftig
Stephen Luftigs 31-year career with the US Environmental Protection Agency has been distinguished with innovative approaches in the use of partnerships, community and community outreach to further the cause of environmental protection. A member of the Senior Executive Service since 1987, Mr. Luftig is a nationally recognized leader in the field of waste site cleanups and in the re-use of once contaminated land, and was the EPAs first Land Revitalization Czar. Mr. Luftig assumed these responsibilities after many years with the EPAs successful Superfund program, where he served as director since 1984.

Mr. Luftigs work in establishing new approaches to community outreach, waste site assessment and clean up technologies, which later became an integral part of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, were instrumental to the design and implementation of a series of programmatic administrative reforms that dramatically improved the effectiveness of this often-criticized program. Specifically, Mr. Luftigs work at the Love Canal Superfund site served as a model for community involvement efforts at many other waste sites across the country. In 1990, he joined the EPAs OSWER leadership team and became director of a successful national emergency response program to address chemical release events rapidly, safely and efficiently. For the last three years of his EPA career, Mr. Luftig led the EPAs efforts to create a new vision for contaminated site cleanup programs, which included the productive re-use of once contaminated land. In recognition of his many contributions over the years, in 2003 Mr. Luftig received the EPAs coveted Lifetime Achievement Award."

About The Guardian Trust
Founded in January 2004, The Guardian Trust is a public/private partnership established by Earth Pledge to provide accountable, on-going institutional (land use) and engineering controls and to enable trustworthy redevelopment of environmentally contaminated properties. The concept of The Guardian Trust was developed by MGP Environmental Partners as part of a pilot study funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Also participating in the pilot study were the United States Navy, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the California Environmental Protection Agency. The pilot study looked at innovative approaches to solving problems associated with land use and engineering controls at sites where contamination remains behind after the initial clean up. The vast majority of all environmental cleanups use these risk based methods.

About Earth Pledge
Earth Pledge is a New York City-based nonprofit organization that originated in 1991 as a United Nations committee chaired by prominent New York attorney Theodore W. Kheel to promote interest in the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Earth Pledge identifies and promotes innovative techniques and technologies that restore the balance between human and natural systems. Through demonstration, education and research, Earth Pledge delivers viable models to government, industry and communities.

About MGP Environmental Partners LLC
Founded in 1997, MGP Environmental Partners LLC, based in Stamford, CT, is a nationally known real estate consulting and management firm, with clients in both the public and private sectors. Its Principals and Staff -- proven experts in real estate, engineering, risk management, finance, information technology and especially brownfields remediation -- bring to bear on the management of The Guardian Trust an extraordinary track record of success. Under the leadership of its CEO, Bruce-Sean Reshen -- a noted expert on Institutional Controls who has been actively speaking and writing on the subject for more than 10 years -- MGP has led the effort to establish The Guardian Trust.

About Institutional and Engineering Controls
In January 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established new guidelines for the redevelopment of environmentally contaminated sites that sought to prevent situations such as Love Canal. These guidelines utilize Engineering Controls (ECs) (e.g.: pump and treat methods for groundwater and landfill caps for soil) and Land Use Controls (LUCs) (e.g.: easements and deed restrictions).

However, in order for ICs and ECs to be successful, there needs to be oversight to inspect, monitor and report on properties for as long as 30 years, or more. Traditionally, this oversight has been left to the owner of the site in varying combinations with the appropriate government agency. However, when ownership of the site changes hands (which frequently happens) there is no certain mechanism in place to make sure that the new owner (or any subsequent owner) will even know -- and/or abide -- by the institutional controls placed on the site. As a result, enforcement of the ICs is uncertain, regional inconsistencies exist, and there is no uniform approach for notice, monitoring and reporting of ICs.

Contact Info:

MGP Environmental Partners
Bruce-Sean Reshen
(203) 327-2888, Ext. 18

Earth Pledge
Leslie Hoffman
(212) 725-6611, Ext. 227

DeBow Communications
Thomas J. DeBow, Jr.
(212) 977-8815

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