Al Smith
Henry County Commissioner Warren Holder appointed Al J. Smith, Jr. to serve the citizens of Henry County, particularly those in District 1 that he represents, on the Henry County Water & Sewerage Authority (HCWSA) Board of Directors. He was sworn in at his first meeting in January of 2004, when new officers were elected for the year.
Mr. Smith follows long-time HCWSA Board Member from District 1 and former Board Chairman Howell Gardner, who retired in December, 2003, after 42 years of public service in Henry County - more than 30 of those years having been spent with the Water Authority.
"Serving on this Water Authority is an honor, and I'm very excited, almost childlike about it," said Smith at the time of his appointment. "I consider this public service a type of ministry for me personally - a way I can give back to the community."
Smith brings outstanding credentials to his post on the HCWSA board. He is currently doing business as an independent Environmental Regulatory Consultant (ERC) at his home office in Locust Grove. As a consultant, he researches, lectures, teaches and writes professional opinions and positions on all sorts of environmental, technical and regulatory issues.
He also works as Director of Engineering for Phoenix Environmental Services, Inc. of Loganville, and has similar experience in the field from more than five years of work with Kiber Environmental Services of Norcross, where he was Director of Engineering and Environmental Regulatory Affairs.
His expertise in the field was garnered primarily as a result of a decorated career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he retired in 1990 after nearly 25 years of service at this federal regulatory agency. His last post at EPA was the Deputy Director of Region IV's Water Management Division, where he assisted in the overall management of the Clean Water Act. But Smith says he has no plans to overstep his bounds while serving on the five-member HCWSA board.
"I'm just one board member working with four others who collectively want to do what's best for the Authority and the County," he explains. "If anything, maybe I have experience with the language or the regulations in some areas of the industry, but I really just want to help in any way I can."
Smith holds a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Mississippi State University and a Master's in Environmental Engineering from Vanderbilt University. He also has done additional graduate work in engineering related fields at Mississippi State and Georgia Tech.
In addition, Smith obtained his Juris Doctor from Atlanta Law School, prior to being admitted to the Georgia Bar, certifying him to practice law beginning in 1979. He then obtained a Master of Laws from Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1980.
In addition to serving as an expert witness for state and federal court cases related to environmental issues, Smith has also taught and lectured at several major universities across the Southeast, and has published countless position papers on environmental and regulatory issues relevant to the industry.
