FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: ECOS Executive Director Ben Grumbles, (202) 266-4929 or bgrumbles@ecos.org or
Lia Parisien, (202) 266-4931 or lparisien@ecos.org
Environmental Council of the States (ECOS)
ECOS Announces Election of Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer
Washington, DC — ECOS is pleased to announce the election of two new officers – Chris Wells of Mississippi as Vice President and Leah Feldon of Oregon as Secretary-Treasurer. They join President James Kenney of New Mexico and Past President Myra Reece of South Carolina for terms running through September.
Wells, Chair of the ECOS Compliance Committee, has served since 2020 as Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. Feldon, Chair of the ECOS Air Committee, was appointed Director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in 2023 after having served as Interim Director since 2022. The special elections resulted from the recent departure from state service of officers Jon Niermann of Texas and Brian Rockensuess of Indiana.
“Myra Reece of South Carolina and I are delighted to welcome our colleagues and friends, Chris Wells of Mississippi and Leah Feldon of Oregon, to our team of officers,” said ECOS President Kenney, Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department. “Together, we will draw on our diverse state experiences to promote ECOS priorities in working with the new Administration and new Congress.”
Kenney’s priorities for 2025 include meeting state capacity needs, accelerating the circular economy, advancing water and energy infrastructure, and assuring federal facility compliance.
At the March 23-26 ECOS Spring Meeting on Uniting States & Partners for Environmental Progress, ECOS members will highlight these priorities, bringing to the nation’s capital their traditional spirit of bipartisanship toward achieving environmental progress. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) will deliver a keynote address on March 24, and U.S. EPA Administrator Nominee Lee Zeldin will be invited to keynote on March 25.
ECOS is the national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state environmental agency leaders. For more information, visit www.ecos.org.
