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Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar/CEGE Alumni Speaker Series

Thomas Speth, PhD, U.S. EPA 

Treatment performance and cost data are needed for compounds that go through USEPA’s drinking water regulatory process. This is done to demonstrate that a contaminant can be removed at a reasonable cost. Currently, the USEPA is collecting and generating such data for PFAS for which the USEPA may decide to set a drinking water regulation. This work includes evaluating the cost of managing residual streams which is often an important issue for many water utilities.

Biography
Dr. Thomas Speth is the Associate Director for Science for the USEPA’s Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. He is a Professional Engineer who has worked in the field of water-treatment research at the USEPA since 1986. He has a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, a Masters degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Michigan Technological University, and a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Dr. Speth is a member of the AWWA, ASCE, and ACS.  He has served as Trustee for AWWA's Water Quality & Technology Division, Associate Editor for ASCE's Journal of Environmental Engineering, and as a member of Journal AWWA’s Editorial Advisory Board. He is currently serving on AWWA’s Water Science and Research Division as Past Chair. At USEPA, he has served as Branch Chief of EPA’s Treatment Technology Evaluation Branch from May 2005 to January 2009.  From January 2009 to March 2018, he served as Division Director of EPA’s Water Supply and Water Resources Division. During this time, from September 2015 to December 2016, he had a detail with OGWDW’s Standards & Risk Management Division as a Senior Engineering Advisor assigned to the Flint Enforcement Team under the 1431 Imminent and Substantial Endangerment Order. Since March, 2018, he has been serving as the Associate Director for Science at USEPA where he is leading efforts on PFAS treatment, lead in drinking water, and small drinking water systems.