Russell J. Martin worked at EPA for more 40 years, retiring at the end of 2011. Mr. Martin spent his first years in a field office figuring out a lot of POTW were not working right, then he spent the next several years in various areas of the Construction Grants Program giving grants to help municipalities build wastewater treatment capabilities. Since 1985, he has worked in wastewater treatment compliance assistance helping more than 50 plants improve performance and assisted a National compliance assistance effort funded under 104g1 of the Clean Water Act that has improved the performance of thousands of POTWs. POTWs assisted by him have won National and/or Regional EPA operation and maintenance excellence awards in all six States in EPA Region 5. In addition, his most recent activities included: sustainable water infrastructure especially asset management, security at POTWs, combined sewers and timely and quality NPDES Permits.

Mr. Martin has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois. To help improve the environment with the help of others, Mr. Martin is a member of the Water Environment Federation (WEF) including participation in the Plant Operations maintenance committee and ops challenge and a member of the Central States and Illinois Water Environment Associations. He was a past chair of the WEF Professional Development Committee, an EPA Region 5 wastewater treatment operation and maintenance expert and Region 5 CSO and asset management contact. He has a wonderful wife he met at EPA and two sons that all enjoy fishing.