3 May 2005

Governor Sebelius appoints two to Commission on Low-Level Radioactive Waste

Governor Kathleen Sebelius today announced the appointments of Joseph Harkins, commissioner, and Ronald Hammerschmidt, alternate, to the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission. Both were confirmed by the Senate and serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

The Central Interstate LLRW Commission is tasked with promoting the safe and economical management of low-level radioactive waste within the four-state Compact region, which includes Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

“We must always work to protect the public and the handling and careful monitoring of this waste requires cooperation between states and producers,” Governor Sebelius said. “The appointments I’m making to the Commission have the expertise needed to represent Kansas in and ensure the safety of our citizens.”

Harkins, Lawrence, serves as director of the Governor’s Natural Resource Policy Office. He is retired from the University of Kansas, where he was director of the Public Management Center. Harkins, who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kansas, has worked in several roles in state government, including director of the Kansas Water Office, the secretary for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and director in the Division of Planning and Public Education of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He also served as an assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

Hammerschmidt, Ph.D., Topeka, is director of the Environment Division for Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Hammerschmidt received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, and his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He has worked for KDHE since 1980 as the deputy director in the Division of Environment, director of the Office of Science and Support, director of the Bureau of Environmental Remediation and senior public health scientist and deputy director of laboratories.