The Maine Senate unanimously confirmed Patricia “Pattie” Aho, of Newcastle, as the commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Sept. 27.
Aho, in a prepared statement, said “it was an honor to be nominated by Governor [Paul] LePage and then confirmed on Tuesday by the Maine Senate to continue serving this department and our state as DEP’s Commissioner.”
The acting commissioner since June, Aho started at the department in April as a deputy commissioner.
Aho, a native of Boothbay Harbor, talked about the impact of her childhood surroundings on her career path in a Sept. 26 hearing before the Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
“I grew up in West Boothbay Harbor, learning to swim in our cove during the days of straight pipes and untreated overboard discharges,” Aho said.
“We were, for some years, the only year-round family on Juniper Point, about three miles from town,” Aho said. “Conservation, re-use and being frugal weren’t things we practiced – it was just a way of life.”
Aho recounted other formative experiences – collecting water in a cistern, fishing off her family’s dock, picking up trash along their beach and hand-feeding birds.
These experiences and others developed “a lasting legacy of respect for our natural resources… and how to balance our lives within those resources,” Aho said.
Aho, a former lobbyist, derives her experience from 27 years of “on the job training” on issues including acid rain, greenhouse gases and petroleum and energy issues, she said.
She outlined a number of clear, “common sense” goals to establish a “customer focused approach” at the department, such as ensuring “timely, fair and firm” enforcement.
The department, under Aho, will “ensure we protect and enhance our natural resources… in a manner which ensures a vibrant and sustainable economy in Maine,” she said.