Former commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection Dawn Gallagher is no longer on the Maine government payroll. Gallagher resigned amid controversy about her leadership of DEP but appeared to have been promised another job within state government.
When Gallagher’s resignation was announced in the days before Christmas, Gov. John Baldacci, in a statement, lauded her commitment to the state and said he would find her another job within the administration.
“While Commissioner Gallagher has played a prominent role in my administration the last three years making significant improvements in how DEP assists Maine communities, I believe these recent issues make a change timely. For that reason, I am accepting Dawn’s resignation as commissioner, and I look forward to further using her expertise in another suitable position within the administration,” the statement said.
In the next paragraph, the governor repeated his commitment to Gallagher: “Dawn Gallagher has been a valuable public servant for the state of Maine for the past 20 years, and it’s my intention to further utilize her skills and experience in another position within the administration.”
According to Crystal Canney, a spokeswoman for Baldacci, Gallagher is not working in any capacity for state government. After her resignation, she used up accrued leave and is now off the books.
At this point, no suitable position has been found for her within the administration, Canney said, although the former commissioner is in the process of applying for jobs with the state and in the private sector.
Gallagher resigned in the midst of a firestorm on DEP’s handling of the Androscoggin River and the paper mills on it.
An ethics commission hearing is scheduled next week to consider the circumstances surrounding discharge permits for International Paper and the role that Rep. Tom Saviello, I-Wilton, had as a member of the Natural Resources Committee. Saviello, who is also the environmental manager at IP in Jay, has been accused by environmentalists of exerting inappropriate influence over DEP and its work regulating his employer. He asked for the ethics investigation and temporarily removed himself from the committee as a way to answer the charges.
During a hearing before the Board of Environmental Protection Thursday, current DEP Commissioner David Littell, who was Gallagher’s deputy and replaced her, said of the IP permits issued under his predecessor: “There are permit limits I don’t think I can defend – I can’t defend. I can’t figure out why they were written that leniently.”
Gallagher, reached Friday at her home, said her last official day with the state was in early January. She refused to comment further on her job search or the governor’s apparent earlier promise of a new job within his administration.
“It’s probably best that I have no comment on that,” Gallagher said. “There’s an ethics hearing next week, and it’s probably best that we allow that process to work. I expect a lot more about this will come out then.”
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