By Allan Patton ~

James had 20 years experience with the Board before I started working with him.  He worked on the Clean Water Grants program, Operator Certification, the Border Program including the New River and Salton Sea, and probably every other program at the Board except Water Rights.

MtBE – James was the leader in getting MtBE removed from gasoline in California.

Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Program – James challenged the basis for this program by asking “Where is the problem?”  His questioning of the need for investing so much time and money in the cleanup of petroleum led to the “Plumathon,” wherein the Board’s contractor Lawrence Livermore National Lab concluded that benzene never moved far from the leak source and sites could be closed after the leak was stopped and some of the worst stuff was cleaned up.  He fought the Regions for most of the rest of his career to instill some sense into this program.  The addition of MtBE to gasoline was a major setback to this effort.

Geotracker – James was the major force in making the State Board’s online cleanup site database, Geotracker, a reality.  It was cutting edge at the time.

Site Cleanup Program – In the early 1990s, it was James who came up with the idea of using the Cleanup and Abatement Account to provide cash flow for staffing at the Regions to oversee the investigation and cleanup of sites where the responsible party wanted to pursue cleanup but there was no money for staff to direct the work.  For the State Board it really became a reimbursement program where we billed the owners.  Still going as far as I know.  Important but boring!

Toxic Pits Cleanup Act – James inherited this program after it had languished somewhat for four or five years.  In true form James challenged the Regional Boards to close many of the minor non-cases that had been included in this program and focus on the cases that posed a real risk to water quality.  I don’t think this one exists anymore.

DoD/GAMA/Land Disposal.  All groundwater programs.