About EMC

Mr. Solomon is a Licensed Professional Engineer (NC, SC, VA); Certified Reliability Engineer; Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional; Six Sigma Black Belt; Lean Management Certification; certified planner by American Institute of Certified Planners (2001-2010). From 2002 – Present, CH2M HILL, Vice President and North Carolina Area Manager; 2012 - Professional Certificate in Strategic Decisions and Risk Management, Stanford University. In 1989 Mr. Solomon received a Masters of Business Administration from University of South Carolina. In 1987 he received a BS Civil Engineering from NC State University.

Chris Duggan is presently an attorney licensed to practice law since 2000 and is licensed in both North Carolina and New York. As a graduate of Vermont Law School with his Masters in Environmental Law along with his Juris Doctorate, he founded The Duggan Law Firm, PC when he moved to North Carolina in 2009.   He serves his clients out of his principal office in Union County, Monroe, NC.   Chris’ practice focuses on Civil Litigation, Environmental Law (Enforcement and Compliance), CERCLA Litigation, Land Use and Planning, Municipal Law, Business Administration and Litigation, Construction Defect Litigation and Constitutional Law.  He practices in both federal and state courts and has conducted numerous trials and appeals for his clients.

Commissioner Duggan serves as a member of the Environmental Management Commission and has done so since 2021.   He also serves on South Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees, the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Union County Local Emergency Planning Commission.   He is a former member of the Union County Planning Board and has served on a number of community committees and boards.   Currently Commissioner Duggan is the Vice-Chair of the Air Quality Committee on the Commission and is a member of the Water Quality Committee.  

Yvonne C. Bailey has been an environmental attorney for over 30 years.  She retired from Raleigh-based Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., as the Senior Environmental Attorney and Assistant General Counsel in 2014 after working there for 19 years.  She was an associate attorney at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in Raleigh North Carolina from 1991 to 1995.  She was an Associate Attorney General for the N.C. Department of Justice representing the Hazardous Waste Management Commission.  She was also an agency attorney in the Office of General Counsel of the N.C. Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources from 1985 to 1989. Prior to her environmental career, she worked for the N.C. Legal Aid Society at the Wilson, North Carolina office.  In addition, Ms. Bailey spent a summer as a Law Clerk at the Alaska Legal Services office in Bethel, Alaska handling legal matters for the Athabascan and Eskimo people in the Alaskan bush villages.

Throughout her legal career, Ms. Bailey has had leadership roles in several professional associations and commissions.  She was a board member at the Raleigh Transit Authority; Chair of the Environment, Safety and Health Division of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association; Chair of the Council of Counsels of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association; Chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association; member of the N.C. Mining Commission and council member of the Administrative Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She was a board and founding member of the Groundwater Professionals of North Carolina.

Since her retirement, she has also volunteered in civic activities and non-profit groups.  She has been the Secretary for the Town of Carolina Beach Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee from 2018 to present; founding member and currently a board member and secretary of the non-profit Friends of Carolina Beach Parks and Greenways; and volunteer lawyer at the N.C. Legal Aid Society “Lawyer on the Line” program providing telephone assistance to Legal Aid clients around the state.

Ms. Bailey is a licensed attorney in North Carolina.  She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver College of Law in Denver, Colorado.  She received her B.A. at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado (cum laude, Dean's List).

Tim Baumgartner is a Senior Environmental Manager currently at Ecosystem Planning and Restoration, LLC and has been there since 2022. He served as Director, NC Division of Mitigation Services at DEQ from 2017 to 2021 and was Deputy Director 2013 to 2017; Project Closeout Coordinator from 2011 to 2013; Project Manager from 2007 to 2011; Project Manager for private consulting firms from 2001 to 2007; Program Manager the NC Division of Soil and Water Conservation, Division of Environment & Natural Resources from 1997 to 2001; and a Water Quality Specialist for NC Pesticide Section of the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services from 1992 to 1997.

Charlie Carter is a partner in private law practice at Earth & Water Law Group.  From 1981 to 1990, he served as Assistant General Counsel & Chief of the National Standards Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for SO2 and PM State Implementation Plans, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, radiation and enforcement programs.  He drafted portions of the legislation enacted as  the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, including Titles III & IV, for which he received EPA's Gold Medal for Exceptional Service.  He also received EPA's Bronze Medal for the Benzene NESHAPs and represented EPA in Chevron v. NRDC at the United States Supreme Court.

He is Chair of the Air Quality Committee of the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law Section of the NC Bar Association; Past President & Board of Directors Member of the Carolinas Air Pollution Control Association.  He is listed in Best Lawyers for Environmental Law.  Received his Juris Doctor, University of North Carolina School of Law, and Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Electrical Engineering), Duke University.

Marion Deerhake’s career at RTI International spanned more than 35 years, retiring as a Senior Research Environmental Scientist. Her experience includes policy and regulatory aspects of air quality, water and groundwater quality, animal feeding operations, and hazardous waste management. In addition, she led projects in ecological and human health risk assessment, ecosystem services analysis, and outreach and communication on topics that included climate change, environmental justice, tribal environmental compliance, and livestock environmental management. Early in her career, she worked as an Environmental Specialist with General Electric’s Engineered Materials Group. She holds an M.S.P.H. Environmental Chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.S. Chemistry from Salem College. Commissioner Deerhake is also a Certified Mediator (North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission, 2002-present) and a trained facilitator.
Commissioner Deerhake has volunteered for more than 20 years on state and local government commissions, setting environmental policies and regulations for all media. She is a past member of the North Carolina Climate Action Planning Advisory Group, Raleigh’s Stormwater Management Advisory Commission, and waste management and energy-related committees. As part of her EMC service, Commissioner Deerhake is an ex-officio member of the NC Sedimentation Control Commission (2019-present) and served ex-officio on the NC Radiation Protection Commission (2000-2008).

Michael Ellison has over thirty years of experience as an environmental consultant, ecosystem restoration contractor, and government bureaucrat. He provides natural systems analysis, planning and management services to private and institutional landowners, nonprofits, and government agencies. He has been the project manager and lead scientist on over 250 successful projects to restore streams, wetlands, forests, and prairies across the United States. He has designed wetland systems to treat dairy waste, landfill leachate, acid rock discharge and municipal stormwater. Commissioner Ellison has secured regulatory permits from state and federal agencies for water quality, surface mining, solid waste disposal, wetland impacts, and land development. Commissioner Ellison worked for DNER/DEQ for six years. After the Dan River coal ash release, he received delegated authorities to serve as the North Carolina’s Trustee for Natural Resource Damage litigation. A few years later he appointed Executive Director of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, where he exercised oversight of multiple programs including the state’s $50 billion coastal restoration plan and multiple projects funded by the Deepwater Horizon legal settlements. Mr. Ellison has more recently been involved in coastal planning work in North and South Carolina, as well as multiple permitting efforts to support land development, water and wastewater management, and stormwater quality.
Commissioner Ellison has a B.S. in Geology degree from the University of Alabama and completed nondegree graduate engineering studies at NC State

Dr. Jackie MacDonald Gibson is Head of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. Her research develops quantitative methods to characterize environmental risks to human health and to identify optimal technical and policy solutions. She earned a dual PhD from the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University; an MS from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign; and a BA in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.

Mr. Keen is founder of Adam’s Inc, Adam’s Auto Spa, ADAIR LLC and Atlantic Coast Deliveries. He is a Navy veteran and former licensed U. S. Merchant Marine Officer in the United States Coast Guard.
Commissioner Keen has served on numerous local boards in Wayne County, including the Wayne County Board of Commissioners for five years, last year as Chairman. He served regionally as President of the East Carolina Council of Governments, Commissioner on the (GTP) Global Transpark Authority and as State Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for Governor Pat McCrory.
An NC House appointed Commissioner to the Environmental Management Commission, Commissioner Keen serves as a member of the Water Quality Committee and Groundwater & Waste Management Committee.
He is a member of the ECU Coastal Studies Institute Board of Directors and former Executive Board Member of the East Carolina University Education Foundation. Awards include The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Honorary Alumni Award from the ECU Alumni Association, Jaycees Distinguished Service Award, Kiwanian of the Year, American Red Cross Hero and Goldsboro’s YMCA Volunteer of the Year.
Commissioner Keen and his wife Beverly have been married 46 years and reside on a family farm in western Wayne County. They have two children and five grandchildren.

Dr. Lyerly is the George Barth Geller Professor of Cancer Research, Professor of Surgery, Pathology, and Immunology at Duke University in North Carolina. Dr. Lyerly has been a Fellow, and is a Life Member, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. Between 2008-2014 – Dr. Lyerly served under Presidents George Bush and Barak Obama on the National Cancer Advisory Board, which oversees the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Lyerly served on the Global Health Sub-Committee of the National Cancer Advisory Board, the National Institute of Health Council of Councils, and the Board of the National Institute of Health Office of AIDS Research.
Dr. Lyerly has been appointed to the Board of Directors, North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, and the NC State Museum of Natural Sciences Advisory Commission. He has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation and served on the Cancer Centers external advisory boards for MD Anderson, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, University of Alabama, University of Arizona, Boston University, and Purdue University. Dr. Lyerly has directed the Environmental Health Scholars Program at Duke, which addresses the incidence of diseases including cancer associated with environmental factors. This work focuses on using data science to associate health outcomes to potential environmental perturbations, as defined by environmental exposures and documented environmental risk.

Mr. Joseph Reardon currently serves as the Senior Director of Food Safety Programs for the National State Departments of Agriculture. In this role, he works with all 50 Commissioners, Directors and Secretaires of Agriculture on food safety related issues.

Mr. Reardon previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Consumer Protection for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services from 2012 to 2021.  He oversaw the divisions responsible for food safety, agricultural emergency response, animal health and regulation of the structural pest control industry, pesticide use and various weighing and measuring devices.

Mr. Reardon brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in food and feed safety and defense at both the State and federal level.  He served as Senior Advisor for Federal-State Relations and Director for the Division of Federal-State Relations in the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2009 through 2012.  In these roles, he worked collaboratively with Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial partners to enhance the public health infrastructure and increase the safety of food and feed.   

As the Senior Advisor, he provided the leadership, vision and strategic direction to increase collaboration and communication with Federal, State and local partners to achieve a national integrated food safety system.  He co-chaired the Integration Task Force and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Federal-State Integration Team in addition to working closely with the Partnership for Food Protection Executive and Coordinating Committees.  He served as the FDA representative for several national public health and regulatory professional associations and was the primary contact for State and local regulatory agencies on issues related to Federal-State integration.

Prior to joining the FDA, Mr. Reardon served the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services for more than 28 years in various regulatory positions, including as the Director of the Department’s Food and Drug Protection Division and Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture for Food and Agriculture Projects. 

He has provided testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment for the State of the Nation report on food defense, animal disease, and potential economic impact of bioterrorism. In addition, he is the co-author of several national articles including Histamine Poisoning in Tuna Burgers and Outbreak of Listeriosis among Mexican Immigrants as a result of Consumption of Illicitly Produced Mexican-Style Cheese.

In June of 2021, Mr. Reardon was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, conferred by the Governor of North Carolina for exemplary service to the state above and beyond the call of duty.  Also in 2021, he received the North Carolina Emergency Management Director’s Award.   In 2017, he received the James A. Graham award from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) for outstanding work in providing service to agriculture producers. NASDA previously recognized Mr. Reardon in 2013 with a Recognition of Service award for his tireless support of state and federal program collaboration.  Mr. Reardon received the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services’ coveted Cornerstone Award in 2002-2003 in recognition for his outstanding leadership and commitment in the integral role as coordinator of special agricultural projects.

Mr. Reardon was selected to deliver the Glenn W. Kilpatrick Memorial address at the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) 117^th Educational Conference in 2013 and received the Eugene H. Holeman Meritorious Service Award from the Association of Food and Drug of the Southern States (AFDOSS) in 2014. He was recognized by NSF in 2009, receiving the NSF Food Safety Leadership Award for System Improvement. Mr. Reardon received a Special Citation from FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach in June 2008 for the Department’s exemplary response to a national botulism recall.

Mr. Reardon holds a degree in Food Science from North Carolina State University. 

Kevin Tweedy is a Founder, Vice President, and Principal Engineer for Ecosystem Planning and Restoration (EPR), an environmental consulting firm that specializes in water resources and environmental restoration work. Commissioner Tweedy is a specialist in environmental assessment, restoration design of natural ecosystems, watershed management, and stormwater management. He has served as project manager, project engineer, and senior engineer for well over 200 watershed and ecosystem restoration projects across the U.S. As Principal Engineer for EPR, he is responsible for corporate strategy and vision, and senior oversight of all engineering services performed by the company. He is currently licensed as a Professional Engineer in nine states.
Prior to co-founding EPR in 2012, Commissioner Tweedy served as Technical Service Manager (TSM) for Ecosystem Restoration for Michael Baker Corporation (now Michael Baker International), a 3,000-person company based out of Pittsburgh, PA. In his role as TSM, he worked with other TSMs, Department Managers, and Office Managers across the US to help grow ecosystem restoration services, provide technical expertise regarding ecosystem restoration and environmental issues, and support environmental projects across the company. He was also responsible for the development and refinement of protocols, guidance, and training involving best engineering practices for company staff providing environmental design services.
Before his promotion to TSM, Commissioner Tweedy served as an Office Manager for Michael Baker Corporation in their Cary, NC office. Overseeing a diverse staff of approximately 25 individuals, Commissioner Tweedy was responsible for the direct management of Department Leads for Ecosystem Restoration, Transportation Planning, and Survey/CADD. He was responsible for the financial performance of the Cary Office, staff leadership, maintenance of company protocols and procedures, business development, client relations, and office administration.

Ms. Weese is a licensed attorney in North Carolina. From 1993 – 2022 she served in the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office in the Civil, Administrative and Environmental Divisions. She began her legal career at the North Carolina Court of Appeals where she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Hugh A. Wells and the Honorable Robert F. Orr. She received a B.A. from Wake Forest University, an M.P.A. from North Carolina State University, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

• Bill Yarborough is a retired Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture. He was awarded Eagle Scout by the Boy Scouts of America.

• Inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, 2018

• Graduated from NCSU with honors 1977 with a BS in Soil Science

• 1978-1979 Employed as a Soil Scientist with USDA- Soil Conservation Service

• 1979-1985 Employed as a District Conservationist with USDA-Soil Conservation Service

• 1985- present Employed by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Appointed as Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture, January 2009

• Numerous periodical and technical papers published and presented over 25 years of work.

• Awarded the State Employee of the Year for Outstanding State Service in 2006

• Inducted into the WNC Agriculture Hall of Fame-2011

• Award the 2010 Presidents Award from the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

• Served two terms on the NC Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

• Supervisor and chair Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District, (general election position, 6 terms)

• Appointed by Governor to Haywood Community College Board of Trustees, July 2012-2016

• Appointed by the Haywood County School Board to Haywood Community College Board of Trustees 2016 - 2020

• Served on the Mountain Resource Commission Technical Advisory Committee

• Treasurer and Board member of WNC Communities Association

• Board member of Haywood Waterways Association (HWA),

• Member of Technical Advisory Committee of HWA,

• Board member of Haywood Sedimentation Control Commission,

• Past board member of NC Soil Science Society,

• Served 12 years as Chairman, Research and Technology Committee, NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

• Past Chairman of the Area 1 SWCD Association

• Past Treasurer of the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

• Consultant to the Farmland Values Research Project, UNCA

• Member of NC Apple Growers Association,

• Past Board member of NC Tomato Growers Association,

• Advisory Board member for Forestry Stewardship of the Waynesville Watershed

• Member of Southeast Vegetable Growers Association,

• Member of Bethel Rural Community Organization

• Past Member of Pigeon Valley Lion’s Club.

• Chairman, Board of Trustees of Francis Cove Methodist Church

• Co-Chair, WNC Livestock Marketing Facility

• Serve on the USDA- Forest Service stakeholders for the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests Plan Revision.