The Region : Head of Water Panel Quits
In protest over the way that water pollution cleanup efforts are proceeding in the region, Anthony R. Fellow last week resigned his post as chairman of the Main San Gabriel Water Quality Authority.
Fellow, who is also president of the board of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, said he is troubled that the water quality authority has not been aggressive enough in remedying the area’s extensive ground water pollution, one of the worst cases of its kind in the nation.
The water authority, he said, “needs a chairman who is more enthusiastic about its progress.”
But other regional water officials interpreted Fellow’s departure as a move to avoid ouster.
“He knew he was going to be replaced,” said Linn E. Magoffin, a top water official in the San Gabriel Valley and the chairman of the board of the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster, which oversees pumping rights in the region.
Discontent over Fellow’s leadership, Magoffin said, had prompted a move among water quality board members to oust Fellow.
Water politics notwithstanding, Magoffin said it is the job of local water officials “to clean this mess up. It’s got to be a cooperative effort.”
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