About EPA
Sam Coleman, Acting Administrator for EPA's South Central Region (Region 6)
Sam Coleman
- Phone: (214) 665-2200
- Email: gray.david@epa.gov
- About the Region 6 Office
Samuel Coleman has had a distinguished career at the Environmental Protection Agency. In particular, in August 2005 he served as EPA's Senior Federal Official in New Orleans to guide the response to Hurricane Katrina. That category 4 storm brought severe damage and destruction to thousands of residential and commercial properties. When the levees broke in New Orleans, the situation became disastrous with entire communities of homes sitting in contaminated floodwater up to 25 feet deep. Sam put together the EPA team tasked with fulfilling the emergency response and recovery missions assigned to EPA by the state and FEMA. For these efforts, Sam was awarded a Meritorious Presidential Rank Award in 2009.
Sam has provided extraordinary leadership for the cleanup of contaminated sites on the National Priorities List. One major example is the Tar Creek Site in Picher, Oklahoma, which was first listed as one of the most contaminated hazardous waste sites in 1983. Millions of cubic yards of mining tailings ("Chat") are located in 83 piles, some over 100 feet high. His personal leadership resulted in improved quality of life for the affected population and a cleaner environment.
Sam brings his experience and leadership skills developed over decades working on these and hundreds of other responses, clean-up sites, and enforcement cases to his new position.
Sam is a native of the region, born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and graduated from Captain Shreve High School in 1974. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Prairie View A & M University, and then had a decade-long career in the Army Corps of Engineers before joining EPA.