Louisville Air Pollution District Chief Resigns in Wake of Critical Audits

The executive director of Louisville’s Air Pollution Control District has announced that she’ll step down at the end of next month.Lauren Anderson has been in charge of the district since August 2008. She’s resigning amid several state audits thatfound serious flaws in the district’s air monitoring program, and calls into question at least a year—and possibly several years—of the city’s particulate and ozone monitoring data.Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has appointed Air District Executive Administrator Keith Talley Sr. to serve as interim executive director, while a search is conducted for a permanent replacement. From an emailed statement: “The work of the APCD is extremely important to the health and vitality of our community,” Mr. Talley said. “We are committed to making the District as strong and efficient as possible, to ensure that our community has clean air and conforms to all federal, state, and local standards.”Fischer has also hired a firm to conduct an independent audit of the district. Missouri-based Inquest Environmental will conduct the review for $37,890, and the work is required to be finished by mid-November.