George S. Hawkins (lawyer)
Encyclopedia
George S. Hawkins is General Manager of the DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water). He is also a lawyer, college professor and environmentalist
. He has worked in the environmental industry, as a corporate lawyer and as a regulator.
He was named to his current post in a unanimous vote September 3, 2009 by the Board of Directors
. With an operating and capital budget of nearly $800 million, DC Water provides drinking water
delivery and wastewater collection and treatment for a population of more than 600,000 in the District of Columbia, as well as the millions of people who work in or visit the District. DC Water also treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia
. The Authority operates the world's largest advanced wastewater treatment plant
at Blue Plains.
. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University
in 1983 and cum laude from Harvard Law School
in 1987. Since 1999, Hawkins has taught Environmental Law and Policy for the Princeton Environment Institute at Princeton University
.
and the District of Columbia.
Early in his career, Hawkins served as Executive Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association http://www.thewatershed.org and held senior posts with the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S. EPA) including Senior Assistant Regional Counsel and Special Assistant to the Regional Administrator. He served Vice President Al Gore on the National Performance Review, and worked in environmental protection
programs at the United States Environmental Protection Agency
and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA).
Hawkins was Executive Director of New Jersey Future http://www.njfuture.org, a non-profit organization
which, under his leadership
, advocated earnestly for smart growth. While there, Hawkins worked with Governor Jon Corzine
's office to develop transit stations in urban areas.
He then moved to the District of Columbia to head the District Department of the Environment.
Hawkins led a project by the District to reduce childhood exposure to lead
hazards. He negotiated and oversaw the implementation of the nation's most stringent federal permit to reduce pollutants from stormwater runoff. He managed the nation's a low-income energy
assistance program, including energy conservation
and home weatherization
. Hawkins launched and chaired the Mayor's Green Team, which coordinates the District Government's internal sustainability program across more than 40 agencies. He also launched the Mayor's Green Summer Job Corps, a program serving several hundred District youth providing summer jobs in environmental cleanups and public education.
Hawkins served as the Chair of the Green Building Advisory Council, which oversees the implementation of the District's green building law. He was also a member of the Mayor's Green Collar Jobs Advisory Committee. Since September 2009, Hawkins has been the General Manager
for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
(DC Water).
At DC Water, Hawkins launched an agenda to improve aging infrastructure
and comply with newer, more stringent regulatory requirements. DC Water is designing and implementing a $2.6 billion program, the Clean Rivers Project, to nearly eliminate overflows of sewage
and stormwater
to the Anacostia
, Potomac
and Rock Creek
DC Water is also investing $950 million to achieve the next level of nutrient reductions to help restore the Chesapeake Bay
.
In addition, DC Water is implementing a $400 million digester program to help manage solids being removed from reclaimed water that will become the region's biggest source of renewable energy
, reduce the volume of biosolids by almost half. The digester project will be the first in North America
to use the thermal hydrolysis
in the treatment process, and the largest installation in the world
to use CAMBI's thermal hydrolysis process. Finally, General Manager Hawkins has gained approval from the board of directors to triple the rate of DC Water's program to replace water and sewer infrastructure
, much of which was installed generations ago.
At DC Water, he has launched the "Team Blue" improvement program, connected to the "BlueStat" process to evaluate business processes with benchmarks and performance statistics. Hawkins is also working with local and national environmental advocates to achieve the water quality
improvements.
On the subject of Hawkins’ selection, DC Water Board Chairman William M. Walker said, “We needed someone who can think strategically, who understands the significant environmental issues that [DC Water] faces.” “Who better than a general manager who has a law degree
from Harvard, who has worked for the EPA
, and has run the [city environment department]?”
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
. He has worked in the environmental industry, as a corporate lawyer and as a regulator.
He was named to his current post in a unanimous vote September 3, 2009 by the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
. With an operating and capital budget of nearly $800 million, DC Water provides drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
delivery and wastewater collection and treatment for a population of more than 600,000 in the District of Columbia, as well as the millions of people who work in or visit the District. DC Water also treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The Authority operates the world's largest advanced wastewater treatment plant
Wastewater treatment plant
Wastewater treatment plant also called wastewater treatment works can mean one of the following:*Sewage treatment – treatment and disposal of human waste....
at Blue Plains.
Education
George Sherman Hawkins was born to Edward Jackson Hawkins and Barbara Rollo Hawkins in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1983 and cum laude from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1987. Since 1999, Hawkins has taught Environmental Law and Policy for the Princeton Environment Institute at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Career
Hawkins began his career practicing law for the Boston firm Ropes & Gray, and is a member of the Bar in both MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and the District of Columbia.
Early in his career, Hawkins served as Executive Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association http://www.thewatershed.org and held senior posts with the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(U.S. EPA) including Senior Assistant Regional Counsel and Special Assistant to the Regional Administrator. He served Vice President Al Gore on the National Performance Review, and worked in environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
programs at the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
(OSHA).
Hawkins was Executive Director of New Jersey Future http://www.njfuture.org, a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
which, under his leadership
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
, advocated earnestly for smart growth. While there, Hawkins worked with Governor Jon Corzine
Jon Corzine
Jon Stevens Corzine is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and of MF Global, and a one time American politician, who served as the 54th Governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. A Democrat, Corzine served five years of a six-year U.S. Senate term representing New Jersey before being elected Governor...
's office to develop transit stations in urban areas.
He then moved to the District of Columbia to head the District Department of the Environment.
Hawkins led a project by the District to reduce childhood exposure to lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
hazards. He negotiated and oversaw the implementation of the nation's most stringent federal permit to reduce pollutants from stormwater runoff. He managed the nation's a low-income energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
assistance program, including energy conservation
Energy conservation
Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...
and home weatherization
Weatherization
Weatherization or weatherproofing is the practice of protecting a building and its interior from the elements, particularly from sunlight, precipitation, and wind, and of modifying a building to reduce energy consumption and optimize energy efficiency.Weatherization is distinct from building...
. Hawkins launched and chaired the Mayor's Green Team, which coordinates the District Government's internal sustainability program across more than 40 agencies. He also launched the Mayor's Green Summer Job Corps, a program serving several hundred District youth providing summer jobs in environmental cleanups and public education.
Hawkins served as the Chair of the Green Building Advisory Council, which oversees the implementation of the District's green building law. He was also a member of the Mayor's Green Collar Jobs Advisory Committee. Since September 2009, Hawkins has been the General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority provides drinking water, sewage collection and wastewater treatment in Washington, D.C., USA. DC Water also provides wholesale wastewater treatment services to several adjoining municipalities in Maryland and Virginia...
(DC Water).
At DC Water, Hawkins launched an agenda to improve aging infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
and comply with newer, more stringent regulatory requirements. DC Water is designing and implementing a $2.6 billion program, the Clean Rivers Project, to nearly eliminate overflows of sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
and stormwater
Stormwater
Stormwater is water that originates during precipitation events. It may also be used to apply to water that originates with snowmelt that enters the stormwater system...
to the Anacostia
Anacostia
Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Its historic downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue It is the most famous neighborhood in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, located east of the Anacostia River, after which the...
, Potomac
Potomac
-Places in the United States:Washington, D.C. area:*The Potomac River, which flows through West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC**The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, a region of the Potomac River's watershed in West Virginia...
and Rock Creek
Rock Creek
-Streams:* Rock Creek * Rock Creek , disambiguation* Rock Creek * Rock Creek , in Illinois* Rock Creek , in Maryland and the District of Columbia* Rock Creek , in Missoula County...
DC Water is also investing $950 million to achieve the next level of nutrient reductions to help restore the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
.
In addition, DC Water is implementing a $400 million digester program to help manage solids being removed from reclaimed water that will become the region's biggest source of renewable energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, reduce the volume of biosolids by almost half. The digester project will be the first in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to use the thermal hydrolysis
Thermal hydrolysis
Thermal hydrolysis is the process where waste or sludge is boiled under high pressure and high temperature, between 160-180 degrees. Cells rich in energy are released and the solution gives a doubling of the amount of biogas compared to the traditional solutions. The biogas can be used to generate...
in the treatment process, and the largest installation in the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
to use CAMBI's thermal hydrolysis process. Finally, General Manager Hawkins has gained approval from the board of directors to triple the rate of DC Water's program to replace water and sewer infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, much of which was installed generations ago.
At DC Water, he has launched the "Team Blue" improvement program, connected to the "BlueStat" process to evaluate business processes with benchmarks and performance statistics. Hawkins is also working with local and national environmental advocates to achieve the water quality
Water quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
improvements.
On the subject of Hawkins’ selection, DC Water Board Chairman William M. Walker said, “We needed someone who can think strategically, who understands the significant environmental issues that [DC Water] faces.” “Who better than a general manager who has a law degree
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
from Harvard, who has worked for the EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
, and has run the [city environment department]?”
Honors and awards
- 2010 – Best New Hire, Washington City Paper.
- March 2005 – Jack Gleeson Award for Conservation Service, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space
- April 2004 –New Jersey Planning Officials "Achievement in Planning" Award
- April 2002 – “Ruth Patrick” Award for Excellence in Environmental Education, Water Resources Association
- December 2000 – Statewide Watershed Excellence Award, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
- February 1997 – U.S. EPA Silver Medal Award for work on RESULTS performance tracking system
- December 1996 – Vice President Al Gore’s Hammer Award for work on StarTrack
- December 1996 – U.S. EPA Bronze Medal Award for assistance to the metal finishing industrial sector
- December 1996 – U.S. EPA Office of Environmental Stewardship “Team of the Year” for StarTrack
- September 1996 – Featured in “The Best Kept Secrets in Government” by Vice President Gore and the National Performance Review
- June 1996 – U.S. EPA Community-Based Environmental Protection Champion Award
- November 1995 – U.S. EPA Region Employee of the Month for work on the HADCO XL Proposal
- October 1995 – U.S. EPA Environmental Educator Award for outreach and educational efforts
- August 1995 – Regional Administrator’s Achievement Award for managing Reinvention Initiatives
- October 1993 – U.S. EPA Special Act Award for Superfund Case Development for the Shaffer Landfill
Publications
- Hawkins, George, “The Race for Open Space,” Policy Research Institute for the Region, Princeton University, 2006.
- Hawkins, George, “Speaking Out, Publicity and Driving Change,” River Voices, River Network, Volume 14 – Number 3, Dec, 2004
- Hawkins, George, “A Municipal Stormwater Rule Primer,” New Jersey State League of Municipalities, April, 2004.
- Hawkins, George, “The Theory and Practice of Environmental Change,” Essay cited by graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry as the best recent essay on environmental change, Fall, 2003.
- Hawkins, George, (and Robert K. Tucker, Peter R. Jaffe, Kerry Kirk Pflugh, and Branden B. Johnson), “Integrating Models of Citizens’ Perceptions, Metal Contaminants, and Wetlands Restoration in an Urbanizing Watershed,” Society for Wetland Scientists, 2001 EPA STAR/NSF/USDA Water and Watersheds Progress Review Proceedings, San Francisco CA, April 19 – 21 2001, US EPA Office of Research and Development EPA/600/R-01/014,
- Hawkins, George and Carnegie, John, “The Changing Currents of Water Quality Protection,” New Jersey Planners Journal, Volume 5, No. 1, Summer 1999.
- Hawkins, George, “From Smokestack to Watershed: Safeguarding Water Quality,” NJ Municipalities, June 1999.
- Hawkins, George, “The Changing Face of Compliance and Enforcement” (Natural Resources and the Environment, ABA Section on Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Spring, 1997).
- Hawkins, George, “The Eagle Agenda -- An Agenda for the Future of Environmental Protection” Unpublished manuscript, cited by authors Lawrence Susskind and Joshua Secunda.
- Frequent lecturer at law schools, universities, community groups, municipal boards and other organizations on issues in watershed management, community action, land use and environmental law. Featured on regional and statewide media, including NJN, Comcast, DC local news, NY Times, Washington Post, The Times of Trenton and The Star Ledger.