Former LWVSC member John Austin has been posthumously awarded the 2019 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer. John's wife (and fellow LWVSC member) Marti has been invited as an honored guest to receive John's award at the 2019 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Awards event on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at the Dover Downs Conference Center.
Soon after retiring from a 33 year career with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as national expert chemist, John Austin began his volunteer work as a consultant and member of both the Center for Inland Bays’ (CIB) Citizen Advisory and Science and Technical Advisory Committees. His outreach then expanded as a founding member of the Inland Bays Foundation (IBF) and as a participant in the Protecting Our Indian River organization.
John worked closely with Kenneth T. Kristl, Esq., Director, Environmental & Natural Resources Law Clinic at Widener University Law School on ongoing legal issues related to water quality. In one of many cases, they joined forces to put together a lengthy request to the EPA to influence DNREC to use the MS4 (Municipal Separate Sewer- small) regulations to define the containment and treatment of polluted stormwater in Urban Areas of Rehoboth, Ocean View (includes Bethany) and Fenwick.
As a member of the League of Women Voters of Sussex County (LWVSC) Land Use Committee, John served as expert consultant on environmental issues pertinent to the drafting of Sussex’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. John played a key role in identifying expert speakers for the League’s 13th (out of 17) public educational forum, “Looking Back - Looking Forward: 2008-2018 Comprehensive Plans -The Environmental Element” held at Sussex County Council Chambers in Georgetown. The focus of these forums was to educate County residents on the importance of the Comp Plan, and urge them to speak to their elected Councilmen to make their views known.
For those wishing to attend the awards ceremony honoring John, registration is at 5:00pm, dinner at 6:00pm, with the awards presentation immediately following. Tickets are $44/person. One can RSVP on the Eventbrite webpage at https://2019governorsoutstandingvolunteerawards.eventbrite.com
