THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary 
                     (Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts)
______________________________________________________________________ 
For Immediate Release                                September 2, 1997 

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES CARDELL COOPER AS ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

AT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate Mayor Cardell Cooper as Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mayor Cooper, of East Orange, New Jersey, is in the fourth year of his second term as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey. During Mayor Cooper's tenure, the recycling efforts of the City of East Orange have steadily expanded and improved to the point that now 90% of single family and multi-family homes participate in curbside pick-up. East Orange has been nationally recognized as a model for other communities. The East Orange Water Commission also received national recognition for implementing state-of-the-art technology in 1992 for an extensive capital improvement program initiated to upgrade the city's water system. Prior to becoming Mayor, Mayor Cooper served as the Essex County Administrator, where he was responsible for the largest county in the State of New Jersey. Mayor Cooper served as the Business Administrator for the City of Irvington, New Jersey from 1986 to 1988. From 1984 to 1988, he was a Freeholder on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and from 1978 to 1985, he served as Director at the Department of Human Services for the City of East Orange. Mayor Cooper earned his B.A. from Montclair State University and his M.A. from Rutgers University.

The Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste Management and Emergency Response, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), oversees all of EPA's major waste programs including Superfund. The Assistant Administrator is responsible for development of appropriate solid waste standards and regulations, program and policy guidance and overview, and technical support and evaluation of regional solid waste and emergency response activities.

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