Secretary Donald R. van der Vaart of the state environmental department has named Michael Scott as the new director of the waste management program.
“Through his many years in public service, Michael has devoted most of his professional life to environmental protection in the state waste management program,” van der Vaart said. “He has proven himself to be an effective leader and a common-sense advocate for the environment. His experience and knowledge will be invaluable as we move forward with the safe closure of all North Carolina’s coal ash ponds and the many other issues we tackle in one of our state’s most important environmental functions.”
The waste management program protects public health and the environment by assuring that solid and hazardous wastes and underground storage tanks are managed properly, and that existing contamination is cleaned up. The division also oversees the state’s brownfields program, which promotes the redevelopment of abandoned, idle or underused sites. The division is part of the state environmental agency.
All 14 years of Scott’s career with the state environmental agency have been spent with North Carolina’s waste management division. He has served as the program’s acting director since Feb. 29.
Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in crop science from N.C. State University. He is also a graduate of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute.
“I’m excited about continuing to work with such a talented group of people in our state’s waste management program,” Scott said. “I look forward to the many opportunities to continue addressing North Carolina’s need for proper waste management and effective environmental cleanups, and our ongoing work to help the environment and the economy through our robust brownfields program.”