Burton Discusses Katrina and Rita Emergency Response

Terry Burton, a senior environmental scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), delivered a lecture, "The Environmental Protection Agency: Journey to Katrina," as part of the Environmental and Water Research Program, sponsored jointly by CH2MHILL in Montgomery, Ala., and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University.

Burton's, a first responder and situation unit leader in Louisiana, outlined what the EPA does, how it came into being, and how it was called upon to provide emergency response for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, and shared numerous slides of the event.

Burton is a senior environmental scientist for the EPA. He serves as the Region 6 Hazardous Substances Technical Liaison for EPA's Office of Research and Development. During the hurricane response period, Burton held numerous positions in the response hierarchy, including regional response center staff, community involvement coordinator, project manager, GIS unit leader, situation unit leader, and planning section chief. Prior to working for EPA, Terry performed research at two national laboratories, and was a member of the research staff at a geoenvironmental think-tank for Massachusetts.

For more information about this and future EWRP lectures, visit their website at http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/clemept/ewr.html