From my Facebook page:
Annette O'Donnelly
Exide Technologies Case Lead Criminal Investigator, EPA CID
Annette being all cool in Hawaii
I would like to tell you about the amazing thing that my wife, Annette O'Donnelly accomplished. Yesterday, the Exide Battery recycling plant closure settlement was announced. Exide agreed to shut down their Vernon plant that had been polluting the neighborhoods around it with lead and arsenic for over 30 years. Vernon's residents, including thousands of children most vulnerable to these toxic substances, have been forced to tolerate this situation as California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) was unwilling or unable to do anything about it for decades.
I am so proud of my wife, Annette O'Donnelly, who was the sole investigator on this case for U.S. EPA CID, and fought ceaselessly for this settlement that not only stopped the poisoning of Vernon, but saved at least 10,000 jobs worldwide. No other investigator had the sense of duty, the courage, the passion or the determination to do the right thing as Annette did during this investigation. She also singlehandedly reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents during the course of her investigation. Annette even had to fight against her own agency, EPA CID, which did not support this settlement and has disavowed all involvement in it, going so far as to forbid her from attending the press conference yesterday.
My thanks also go out to scientists Paul Baranich and Rick Jones at DTSC who conducted interviews, interpreted and provided scientific direction and who supported Annette in her investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns, who pushed the prosecution forward in a tenacious and timely manner.