DC's New Environment Agency Head Discusses Parks and Agriculture

In early January, Tommy Wells was appointed Acting Director of the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). Much of Wells's work in the city has focused on cleaning up the Anacostia River; as a councilmember for Ward 6 he pushed for clean-up efforts along its banks and successfully championed a bag bill which raised money for environmental projects through a five cent per bag fee. As the head of DDOE, Wells will oversee some 300 employees working on huge variety of issues, including lead paint remediation and intervention, toxic material clean-ups, fisheries and wildlife management, and energy planning. A few weeks after he took over at DDOE, Elevation DC sat down to talk with him about his vision for his department and his priorities for the coming years.