Skelton joins agency in New England
Eric Skelton, Spokane’s former air quality director who resigned recently after a clash with his board, has been hired as a senior policy analyst at a large clean-air agency in New England.
Skelton will work in Boston on “mobile source” air quality issues for NESCAUM, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management. Members include the six New England states plus New York and New Jersey.
The agency was formed in 1967 to deal with emissions from large power plants located on or near state borders in New England. NESCAUM has worked regionally on a range of air pollution problems since, according to its Web site.
Skelton is working from his Spokane home until January, when he will permanently relocate to Boston.
The new job is an exciting opportunity, Skelton said in an e-mail.
“I have believed for a long time that the mobile source area is ‘where it’s at’ in terms of innovations and opportunities to do the most good to protect and enhance the public health of our citizens,” Skelton said
After 14 years as agency director, Skelton resigned Sept. 30 from the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority after an escalating dispute with his board. Led by Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris, the SCAPCA board had criticized Skelton’s management style and signaled a desire for fewer fines and a more business-friendly approach to air quality regulation.
Skelton was strongly supported by Spokane’s medical and environmental communities for his public health advocacy, including halting bluegrass field burning in Spokane County to clear the air.
He was recently praised by regional clean-air officials, health groups and the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce for achieving the goal for which he was hired in 1991: getting Spokane off the federal government’s “dirty air” list for carbon monoxide and particulates.
On Aug. 30, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removed Spokane from the federal Clean Air Act’s “non-attainment” list of cities with unhealthy air.
Skelton will be missed, said Patti Gora, a Pullman clean-air activist and mother of an asthmatic son who worked with the SCAPCA director to curb field burning.
“Eric is a quiet hero who has made the difference for so many hundreds of families in the Inland Northwest. He was such a champion for the rights of the breathing public. It’s our region’s great loss that’s he’s leaving,” Gora said.