Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has picked a state lawyer to lead the Washington Department of Ecology.
Laura Watson succeeds Maia Bellon, who announced her retirement on Dec. 2 after leading the state agency since 2013.
The Department of Ecology, through its Nuclear Waste Program, regulates the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, as well as other nuclear facilities in the state.
Watson “has a deep understanding of the crucial work Ecology does statewide and was at the center of some of the most important issues in recent years,” Inslee said in a Dec. 20 press release.
For the past five years, Watson served as the senior assistant attorney general in the Ecology Division of the state Attorney General’s Office. She has advised the state on a long list of legal issues, including cleanup at Hanford, toxics reduction strategies, and protection of the State’s Clean Water Act authority against the federal government, according to the news release.
While Watson was senior assistant attorney general, her duties included acting as legal counsel for the Department of Ecology, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Altogether, Watson has been an attorney for the state of Washington for more than 20 years, having also served as a deputy solicitor general and an assistant attorney general.
Bellon is the longest-serving Ecology director in Washington state history. She steps down from the director position on Tuesday. Longtime Ecology Deputy Director Polly Zehm is also retiring at the end of January.
The leadership changes come as DOE and the Department of Ecology are starting talks concerning treatment and disposal of radioactive tank waste and other environmental cleanup issues at Hanford.
