For Immediate Release

June 25, 1998

(WEST TRENTON, N.J.) - Carol R. Collier has accepted the position of Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission. Ms. Collier, who is currently Executive Director of Pennsylvania's 21st Century Environment Commission, will succeed Gerald M. Hansler, who is retiring after 20 years of service.

"Carol Collier is an outstanding choice for this position," said Irene Brooks, Chairman pro tem of the Commission. "Her background and experience, both in private industry and the public sector, make her eminently qualified for this assignment. She will be a great asset to the Commission as it enters the new century."

Ms. Collier, who will assume her new post on August 31, 1998, will be only the third Executive Director in the DRBC's 37-year history.

The Commissioners also created a new post with the title and function of Deputy Executive Director, which will be filled at the discretion of the Executive Director.

Ms. Collier, 47, a native of Monmouth County, N.J., is uniquely qualified for her new post. Prior to her assignment by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to the 21st Century Environment Commission, she was Regional Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's (PADEP) Southeast Region. That region, consisting of Philadelphia and the surrounding four counties, encompasses much of the lower Delaware River watershed and Delaware Bay. In that position, Ms. Collier led the PADEP region to change the way it addressed permitting and compliance by becoming more proactive, developing solutions to problems and partnering with the public. She was instrumental in starting a watershed partnership for the Wissahickon Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River.

Ms. Collier's post at the 21st Century Environment Commission, whose mandate is to establish Pennsylvania's environmental priorities for the next century, enables her to actively maintain a continuing relationship with the Delaware River Basin that goes back nearly twenty years.

Before joining PADEP, Ms. Collier served 19 years with BCM Environmental Engineers, Inc., Plymouth Meeting, Pa., beginning as a student intern and ultimately becoming Vice President of Environmental Planning, Science and Risk. Her functions there brought her into contact with virtually every environmental and water related issue, such as storm water management, wetlands, dredging and dredged material disposal - an especially contentious issue on the Delaware Estuary at the moment - facility siting, and land use effects on water quality and quantity.

Ms. Collier has a B.A. in Environmental Biology from Smith College and a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Professional Planner licensed in the State of New Jersey, Member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and a Certified Senior Ecologist by the Ecological Society of America. In 1997 she was presented the Touchstone Award from the Society of Women Environmental Professionals. She has also published widely on environmental and water-related topics and is a frequent lecturer on a variety of environmental issues.

Ms. Collier currently resides in Ft. Washington, Pa., with her husband, Richard, and their two sons.

The Delaware River Basin Commission was formed in 1961 via a Congressionally ratified Compact between the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York with the Federal Government as a participating party. The Commission allows the signatories to share the responsibility of managing the water resources of the Basin. Since its formation, the Commission has provided leadership in restoring the Delaware River and protecting water quality, resolving interstate water disputes without costly litigation, allocating and conserving water, managing river flow, and providing numerous other services to the signatory parties. As it looks to the next century, the Commission is strengthening its leadership role in protecting, enhancing, and developing the water resources of the Delaware River Basin for present and future generations. In that role, the Commission will serve as policy maker, regulator, planner, manager and mediator on behalf of the signatories to the Delaware River Basin Compact and of the citizens of the Basin.

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