Board of Directors

Gabrielle Frigon (CT) – Contact

Gabrielle is the Division Director for the Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division and has oversight of Permitting and Enforcement for Solid and Hazardous Waste Facilities, Pesticides Management and Sustainable Materials Management. She has been with the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for over 30 years and has worked in Remediation Division programs including Superfund Pre-Remedial, Potable Water and formal Enforcement. In 2007 Gabrielle joined the Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division supervising Solid and Hazardous Waste Permitting for the state and, for a few years concurrently supervised the Source Reduction and Recycling program and their efforts to advance the goals of the state-wide Solid Waste Management Plan. Starting in 2019 Gabrielle oversaw the work of the Office of Policy and Planning for the Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance and developed proposed legislation, policy and regulations. In October of 2020 she re-joined the Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division as the Assistant Division Director. In that role, Gabrielle oversaw the development of DEEP strategies and processes in support of the goals and objectives resulting from the Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management as well as overseeing the work of the division. Gabrielle obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University, her Master’s degree from Duke University, and completed her Doctoral courses in Physics at New York University.

Wilmarie Rivera Otero (PR) – Contact

Wilmarie Rivera Otero is the Chief of the Underground Storage Tanks Division in the Water Quality Area in the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNRE) since November 2014. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with concentration in Agronomy from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, a Master of Science in Environmental Management with concentration in Environmental Risk Assessment and Management and completed curriculum courses leading towards a PhD at the Doctoral Program in Environmental Sciences at the Turabo University in Puerto Rico. Mrs. Rivera began working at the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture for 5 years before working at Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (at present DNER) in 2003. From 2003 to 2008 worked as a Remedial Project Manager for the Superfund Division, and from 2008 through 2014 worked as the Federal Facilities Coordinator of PREQB in charge of all DoD investigations and cleanups conducted in Puerto Rico, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra.

Ali Tarquino (PA) – Contact

Ali Tarquino Morris serves as the Acting Deputy Secretary of Environmental Protection’s Office of Waste, Air, Radiation & Remediation for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. She is a mission-driven professional who is dedicated to protecting the environment for all people.

Previously, Ali served as the Director of the Bureau of Waste Management. As the Bureau Director, Ali oversaw the statewide implementation of Pennsylvania’s statewide hazardous, municipal, and residual waste programs, recycling and beneficial use programs, and the waste transportation safety program. Prior to joining the Bureau of Waste Management, she worked in the Department’s Southcentral Regional Office and Bureau of Laboratories.

Ali graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Mary Washington with a degree in biology/chemistry. She lives in rural Pennsylvania with her husband and four children.

Holly Nelson (GA) – Contact

Holly Nelson is the Program Manager for Georgia EPD’s Hazardous Waste Management Program. This program regulates permitted hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities, hazardous waste generators, and Department of Defense facilities. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and started her career in environmental consulting where she worked primarily on projects related to site investigation and remediation.

After leaving consulting, Holly worked for Florida DEP in the Waste Cleanup Program, Georgia EPD in the UST Program, as an Environmental Manager for a private waste management company, and in 2020, returned to Georgia EPD’s Land Branch to work within the Hazardous Waste Management Program.

Christine Sieger (WI) – Contact

Christine Sieger started with the Wisconsin DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment program in 2013 as the administrator of the Ready for Reuse loan and grant program. In 2014 she became the Brownfields and Outreach Section Chief, and in 2018 she took on the role of RR program director. Prior to joining DNR, Christine spent six years working for an entrepreneur, helping grow his business entities as a real estate development project manager, vice-president of real estate and president for their start-up confections company. In the first 11 years of her career, Christine worked for a national non-profit conservation organization including eight as executive director. Christine served on the board of directors of the American Hiking Society for five years and was a member of the Dane County (Wis.) Park Commission for 11 years. She has an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from UW – Madison

Yolunda Righteous (LA) – Contact

Yolunda Righteous has over 30 years of environmental experience in the field of waste permitting compliance, training, and project management. She is a Baton Rouge native with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Dillard University in New Orleans and began her career at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) in 2001. I rejoined the LDEQ after working for nearly 15 years as the Waste Services Regulatory Director for Providence Engineering and Environmental Group LLC. In 2018, she earned a Law Degree from Southern University Law Center.

Currently, she serves as the Administrator of the Waste Permits Division of the LDEQ. Yolunda also serves as a Board Member of the Louisiana Solid Waste Association (LSWA) where she is the Conference Chair for the LSWA/LDEQ Louisiana Environmental Conference and Trade Fair.

Along with her current role as the Region 6 ASTSWMO Board Representative, Yolunda also serves as the Region 4 Director and a member of the Board of Directors for the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA).

Ruben Zamarripa (MO) – Contact

Ruben Zamarripa is the Chief of the Defense Sites Restoration Unit for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. He has over thirty years of experience with environmental compliance and cleanup work in both the private and government sectors. Over the past twenty years his responsibilities include providing state regulatory oversight of environmental restoration projects at federal facilities and managing the Defense State Memorandum of Agreement/Cooperative of Agreement Program. Mr. Zamarripa represents Missouri on the Department of Defense National Formerly Used Defense Sites Forum Working Group comprised of seven states.
He has served as a team member, vice chair and chair of the ASTSWMO Federal Facilities Remediation and Reuse Focus Group and Federal Facilities Subcommittee. Mr. Zamarripa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health with an emphasis in Industrial Hygiene from Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

Chuck Hyatt (ND) – Contact

Chuck Hyatt is the Division Director for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Waste Management. He leads a team of dedicated environmental professionals committed to protecting human health and the environment on behalf of the state’s citizens. The Department’s Division of Waste Management includes the Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste programs, Underground Storage Tanks and Brownfields programs, as well as the Radiation Control and Indoor Air Quality (Radon, Asbestos, Mold) programs.
Chuck stepped into his current role in 2017. Prior to this, he worked for the agency (then the Environmental Health Section of the North Dakota Department of Health) in the Air Quality division, first as a facility compliance inspector and permit writer and later as the manager of the Ambient Air Quality Monitoring program.
Chuck holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Lene Ichinotsubo (HI) – Contact

Lene Ichinotsubo is the Solid Waste Section Supervisor and currently the Acting Program Manager of the Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch of the Hawaii Department of Health. The Solid Waste Section oversees the design, operation and closure of solid waste management facilities and provides technical support in the development of state solid waste policies and programs; while, the Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch is home of the state’s solid waste, hazardous waste, and underground storage tank regulatory programs, and solid waste planning and statewide recycling programs, including the Hawaii Deposit Beverage Container Program.

Lene has over 32 years of environmental experience, beginning her career as an engineer in the private sector before moving to the Department of Health. Thus far, she has spent her entire 25-year career with Department of Health in the Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch, having experience in complaint and compliance inspections, enforcement, permitting, site assessment and remediation, and program management and planning. Lene has a master’s degree in engineering with an emphasis in water resources.

Jaclyn Palermo – Contact

Jaclyn Palermo has approximately 20 years of environmental experience. Jaclyn worked for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality before moving to Oregon for an opportunity with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. She is currently the Policy, Operations, and Data Section Manager for the Materials Management Program at ODEQ. Her section develops and implements strategies, analyzes legislative and budget needs, collects, and evaluates statewide data, and develops administrative rules, policies, and procedures for statewide implementation.

Jaclyn earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Jaclyn now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and fur family. She enjoys all things Pacific Northwest including kayaking, waterfall hikes, rock climbing, clam digging and gardening.