Courtesy of Montgomery County Government
Lisa Feldt, former director of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Montgomery County, died in a traffic accident on Thursday at the age of 60.
After multiple stints working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Feldt joined Montgomery County as the DEP director in January 2015.
“She was a natural choice for the job,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said in a statement on Friday, “and, as I worked with her, I got to know her and appreciate her deep understanding of the need for environmental protection.”
“I enjoyed working with her, and I knew that she was driven by deep-seated values that were apparent in her leadership.”
Feldt joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1984 as an environmental engineer. After five years, she left to work for the Department of Energy for over a decade until returning to the EPA as a Deputy Assistant Administrator and later an Acting Deputy Administrator.
Lisa Jackson, President Obama’s first EPA Administrator, was trained by Feldt at the EPA in 1987 and took to Twitter to remember her former mentor and colleague.
“I have never known a more upright, committed, passionate, or intelligent environmental servant/leader,” Jackson said.
Following her time in Montgomery County, Feldt served as the Vice President of Environmental Protection & Restoration at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation from July 2018 until July 2020.
“Lisa will be greatly missed for her work and commitment to ensuring that we, our children, and our children’s children have a healthy, sustainable world in which to live and grow,” Elrich said.
“We have lost a true champion for the planet.”
Lisa Feldt was assigned to “train” me in my very first job at EPA in 1987. I emailed with her just this past Monday. We both grew up at EPA. I am devastated. I have never known a more upright, committed, passionate, or intelligent environmental servant/leader. https://t.co/7PKKgWz215
— Lisa P. Jackson (@lisapjackson) September 18, 2020
