MEDIA RELEASE
Monday, September 27, 1999
IJC Appoints Distinguished Environmental Scientist to International St. Lawrence River Board of Control The International Joint commission (IJC) has appointed Dr. Theodore L. Hullar as a member of its St. Lawrence River Board of Control (the Board). Dr. Hullar serves as director of the Cornell University Center for the Environment and professor of natural resources and brings to the Board more than 25 years of experience in dealing with environmental and water issues.
Dr. Hullar has extensive New York State and national experience in dealing with complex environmental and water issues. He served for four years as a Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (1975-1979) and prior to that as commissioner of environmental quality in Erie County, New York (1974-1975). He is a member of the Board of Governors of New York Sea Grant. He has been chair and member of several National Academy of Science panels and boards on environmental issues and is currently a consultant to the Department of the Navy on environmental assessment and to the Environmental Protection Agency on research futures. He is currently coordinator and chair of the National Water Initiative, a partnership among universities, government and the private sector for advancing research and application of research to key national water issues.
Dr. Hullar began his academic career at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1964 and initially joined the faculty at Cornell in 1979. Following recent service as Chancellor of the University of California at Davis and the University of California at Riverside, he rejoined the Cornell faculty in 1997. Dr Hullar is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and holds both Masters and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Minnesota.
After careful consideration of all the names put forward, the six IJC Commissioners selected Dr. Hullar as the best qualified candidate to serve in the interests of the entire Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system and to fill the needs of the Board at this time, particularly the need for environmental expertise.
In January 1999, the IJC decided not to adopt a proposed updated regulation plan for Lake Ontario outflows, called Plan 1998, because it did not have sufficient information on the environmental impacts. The IJC is also considering a detailed Plan of Studies developed by the Board for a broader review of Lake Ontario outflows regulation that would include major environmental investigations.
The IJC appreciates the strong interest of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River community in the membership of its Board. All of the candidates considered had fine qualifications and a variety of expertise. The IJC wishes to continue to involve them in its work.
The previous Board member was Tom Brown of the NY DEC, who was appointed in September 1988. Prior to Mr. Brown, the position was held by a member from the St. Lawrence-Eastern Ontario Commission.
The International Joint Commission was created under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes over the use of waters along the Canada-United States boundary. Its responsibilities include approving certain projects that would change the natural levels and flows of boundary waters, such as the international hydropower project at Massena, New York and Cornwall, Ontario. If it approves the project, the IJC's Orders of Approval may require that the flows through the project meet certain conditions to protect the interests in both countries. The IJC established the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control to develop a regulation plan for flows through the project, monitor operations for compliance with its Orders of Approval and conduct special studies. For more information, please consult the IJC's web site at www.ijc.org.
Contacts:
Frank Bevacqua Washington, DC 202.736.9024 Fabien Lengellé Ottawa ON 613.995.0088
