The Environmental Protection Agency has named a former attorney for the nation's largest utility to head its West Coast office.
John Busterud replaces the regional director ousted from the post last week. Busterud worked for Pacific Gas and Electric for three decades. He will manage more than 600 staff employees and oversee environmental protection efforts across EPA’s Region 9. The region includes 50 million people living in California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and tribal lands. Former director Mike Stoker said he got a call last week from senior agency officials in Washington, D.C., telling him to resign.