Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
1/9/2015
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Director Catherine Templeton, known for fighting missed milestones by the Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site, announced this week that she will resign effective Jan. 12. Templeton was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to the Secretary of Labor post in 2010 and took the helm at DHEC in February 2012. While Templeton’s term runs through March 2016, upon her appointment she said she would not stay beyond Haley’s first term, which ends this month. “When Governor Haley pulled me from the private sector, I promised her four years of public service and I have fulfilled my commitment,” Templeton said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to serving the state from a different position.”
Notably, Templeton has led pushback from the state on potential missed milestones for high-level waste cleanup at the Savannah River Site, threatening to levy up to $150 million in penalties if milestones are not met and also denying DOE’s request to extend closure dates for high-level waste tanks at the site. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in a statement: “We have valued our partnership with Catherine on the critical issues our state faces at the Savannah River Site. It is a complex situation and she has the intelligence and energy to prioritize the issues and run point for our environmental management. Catherine has served our state well and she has an unlimited future.”
