A Maine citizen and two governmental organizations from the state will be honored Wednesday in Boston during the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional environmental merit awards ceremony.

The agency’s merit awards recognize individuals and groups who have shown ingenuity and commitment in their efforts to preserve the environment.

Brownie Carson, who served as Executive Director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Environmental Merit Award. Carson retired from his post in January after serving for 27 years.

Many of Maine’s first in the nation environmental laws are the product of Carson’s leadership.
Carson’s achievemetns include expansion of Maine’s Bottle Bill, a law requiring electronics manufacturers to collect and recycle computer monitors and television sets, and the leadership he provided during a 10-year campaign that culminated in the removal of the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River.

Deborah Avalone-King from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Beth Otto of the Maine Energy Education Program will receive a merit award on behalf of the Maine Green Schools program.

The Green Schools program encourages elementary and secondary schools in Maine to become more energy efficient. More than 30 Maine schools participated in 2010.

Also receiving a merit award on behalf of the town of Sanford will be James Gulnac, Sanford’s Director of Planning and Community Development, and Town Manager Mark Green who the EPA says have been leading an effort to revitalize vacant textile mills using federal brownfield grants.
The brownfield program allows communities to redevelop sites that may be contaminated.