FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2004
Contacts:
Marv Maxell and Rick Sprott, Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4000
(Salt Lake City, Utah) - Marv Maxell, manager of the Air Standards Branch in DEQ's Division of Air Quality, has announced his retirement after 30 years of service with the State of Utah. Maxell's last day is Friday, March 12.
"I've had more opportunities in Utah than I could have had anywhere else in the Rocky Mountains," Maxell said. "I feel I have worked through many issues to do the right thing for the environment and public health."
One of Maxell's accomplishments was writing the fugitive dust rule. It was the result of eight years of work with the Association of General Contractors and the Wasatch Front Regional Council to control dust at construction sites and gravel pit operations. The reconstruction of I-15 was the first major project in the western United States to be permitted for fugitive dust by a state agency.
"Marv has made many noteworthy contributions to communities all over the state to improve air quality and visibility," said Rick Sprott, director of the Division of Air Quality. "His personal style and sense of humor, even during the toughest times, will be fondly remembered for many years."
Maxell began working for the State of Utah in 1973 as a water biologist for the Division of Wildlife Resources. Two years later he went to the Bureau of Water Pollution Control and established Utah's first water monitoring program.
In 1979 he became the manager of the Bureau of Environmental Chemistry at the State Health Lab. For a year in 1981 he was acting director of the Division of Environmental Health, after which he became assistant director of the Division.
For six years starting in 1986 Maxell was the assistant director of the Bureau of Air Quality in charge of cleaning up toxic waste sites now known as Superfund sites. Then in 1992 he became the Division of Air Quality's Air Standards Branch manager in charge of compliance and air monitoring. He established Utah's hazardous air pollutants program and hired the Division's first toxicologist.
Born in Nebraska and raised in Colorado, Maxell holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Fort Lewis College and master and doctoral degrees in zoology from the University of Wyoming.