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Al Armendariz, a Southern Methodist University professor who wrote a controversial study of air pollution caused by drilling operations in the Barnett Shale, has been named the regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Dallas office, the EPA announced Thursday.
As regional administrator, he will oversee federal environmental policy in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. "I’m proud to be selected and to work with the dedicated EPA team in confronting the environmental and energy challenges currently before us," Armendariz said in a news release. "As a scientist, there has never been a more exciting time to be involved in environmental protection."Armendariz has an undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina. He has taught engineering at SMU since 2002. This year, he released a study concluding that natural gas drilling accounts for as much pollution in a 21-county North Texas area as emissions from cars and trucks. Officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality later said they believe that Armendariz took data out of context and that they considered his conclusions to be flawed.Armendariz, a longtime advocate for tighter air pollution rules, has also studied air pollution from cement plants in Midlothian. His work has made him unpopular with industry representatives, who question his methodology, but has won him plaudits from environmental groups. "Dr. Armendariz is exactly the kind of person you’d want to have this job but seemingly never gets it," said Jim Schermbeck of the clean-air group Downwinders at Risk. "Because of what’s at stake and the fact that Texas is the belly of the polluter beast, this may be one of the most important, far-reaching appointments the Obama administration makes." The Obama administration has vowed to step up its enforcement of environmental laws. According to published reports, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson met this year with environmentalists in Texas to discuss their concerns about the state’s pollution problems. "I look forward to working closely with Al Armendariz on the range of urgent environmental issues we face, in Region 6 and across the nation," Jackson said. Armendariz has criticized the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which carries out most environmental regulations in Texas. The EPA and the commission have been locked in a series of disputes about whether the state agency is properly carrying out the federal Clean Air Act.MIKE LEE, 817-390-7539
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