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MPART Executive Director Steve Sliver to retire after 34 years of state service
March 05, 2021
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) today announced that Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) executive director Steve Sliver will retire after 34 years of service to the State of Michigan.
Sliver has been EGLE's senior representative on MPART since April 2018 and was named executive director in 2019 when Gov. Whitmer established MPART as a permanent advisory body within EGLE under Executive Order 2019-3.
Under Sliver's leadership, MPART has been widely recognized as a national leader in the response to PFAS contamination in drinking water. Notable accomplishments of the multi-agency taskforce include the nation's first statewide testing of public water supplies and schools for PFAS, the establishment of some of the nation's most comprehensive PFAS in drinking water standards and the country's largest collection and disposal program for PFAS-containing firefighting foam.
"It has been an honor to help deliver on Gov. Whitmer's commitment to cleaner drinking water for all Michiganders," Sliver said. "In addition to working together with my colleagues throughout state government to protect thousands of Michiganders from PFAS chemicals, it has been a privilege to represent Michigan as other states and our federal partners begin to follow Michigan's lead in addressing these contaminants.
Prior to leading MPART, Sliver spent more than 30 years with the state environmental agency in several waste management roles including a stint as assistant director of EGLE's Materials Management Division.
EGLE Director Liesl Clark has named MPART veteran Abigail Hendershott as the new MPART Executive Director effective April 1, 2021.
Hendershott manages EGLE's Grand Rapids District Office for the Remediation and Redevelopment Division and has led the state's largest PFAS contamination response to-date, the investigation into the former Wolverine Worldwide tannery in Rockford. Hendershott was part of the team responsible for the legal settlement establishing clean-up plans and municipal water connections for thousands of residents in northern Kent County with a total cost of $113 million.
PFAS compounds are a group of emerging and potentially harmful contaminants used in thousands of applications globally, including firefighting foam, food packaging and many other consumer products. These compounds also are used by industries such as tanneries, metal platers and clothing manufacturers.
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