Head of EPA Office of Water Stepping Down

Peter Silva, the top water quality official at the Environmental Protection Agency, is leaving EPA In February. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, in a memo to staff, said Silva is stepping down as assistant administrator for water on February 12, 2011. The announcement of Silva's departure comes a day after his office made a controversial decision to revoke the permit of one of the largest mountaintop coal mines in West Virginia. Nancy Stoner, the deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Water, will fill Silva’s shoes on an acting basis while EPA seeks a replacement, Jackson said. Stoner, before coming to EPA, was a water advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council. For more information contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.