CAG facilitator quits post

After nine years of facilitating the Community Advisory Group meetings, Gerald Mueller resigned his post on Tuesday.

“I no longer believe that my acting as the facilitator adds sufficient value,” Mueller said.

The resignation, submitted via e-mail, included a two-fold answer that stems from the CAG’s purpose.

In February 2000, Mueller said CAG determined it would provide a “conduit for formal and regular communication between the people of the Libby community and EPA.”

One month later, CAG expanded its role to include “providing advice and recommendations to EPA and others such as Montana’s Congressional delegation,” he said.

Along with the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that they were withdrawing from the monthly CAG meetings, Mueller said the Feb. 12 meeting, “Confirmed for me that some CAG members and some members of the Libby community that regularly attend CAG meetings as audience members do not believe that EPA will answer their questions.

“Given these conditions, I do not believe that the CAG can fulfill its purpose of providing a conduit for formal and regular communication between the Libby community and EPA,” he said in the e-mail.

On Wednesday, one-time Libby Technical Adviser and CAG member Gordon Sullivan, resigned from the board.

Sullivan said he would not participate in future public meetings. However, he said he would continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes and in closed-door meetings to get questions answered by the EPA.

Sullivan said the future of CAG is uncertain but “the hard questions will not be asked anymore.”