Debra Shore Set to Lead EPA Midwestern Office

10/14/2021

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — President Joe Biden appointed Debra Shore, a wastewater treatment official in Chicago, to direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwestern office.

Shore will oversee EPA’s Region 5, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, along with 35 indigenous tribes. The office oversees efforts to clean up the Great Lakes and deals with matters including industrial and agricultural pollution and tainted drinking water.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Shore’s “knowledge and experience on water infrastructure issues, the impacts of climate change and the protection of the Great Lakes” qualified her for the post.

Shore is an elected member of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, an agency that handles wastewater treatment and stormwater management for more than 5 million residents.

EPA described her as a “strong advocate” for improved water quality and renewable energy.

Shore said she was eager to help carry out the Biden administration’s “bold plans to address climate change, to restore the agency’s foundational commitment to environmental justice and to ensure that decisions are made based on sound science and the law.”