DEP chief departure causes staff shakeup
The departure of former Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Patricia Aho has caused a staff shakeup, the Morning Sentinel reported Tuesday.
Aho is joining the staff of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins as her office representative in Augusta.
Acting DEP Commissioner Avery Day told the newspaper that four high-ranking officials will no longer work at the DEP. Three of the four departures were voluntary.
The voluntary departures include Melanie Loyzim, director for the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management. During her stint under Aho, Loyzim was charged with defending the LePage administration’s adherence to the 2008 Kid-Safe Products Act.
Also leaving voluntarily are Laura Welles, an enforcement attorney with DEP, and Justin French, a policy director within the commissioner’s office.
“I think when you stack all that up, it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, my God, they’re cleaning house over there,'” Day told the newspaper. “But it’s really not the case. A lot of it is people pursuing other opportunities.”
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