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Delaware Native Wins Prestigious EPA Award for Protecting Wetlands

Release Date: 07/25/2011
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron. donna@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (July 25, 2011) -- Stefania Shamet, a resident of ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Marlton, N.J. and attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, received the Edward T. “Red” Heinen Wetlands Award, EPA’s most prestigious national award recognizing superior work to protect wetlands.

Shamet, the daughter of John and Stefania Daliani of Dover, Del., is a 1982 graduate of Holy Cross High School in Dover.

The award is named after a highly respected leader from the formative years of EPA’s wetlands program. It is presented annually to the person from EPA’s nationwide wetlands program who best exemplifies the high standards and personal dedication to wetlands protection that characterized Red’s years with EPA's wetlands program. It acknowledges those special people who are a source of inspiration to others in the program, and whose work and attitude best contributes to our environmental and public service goals.

“Stef is not only a leading voice on the legal issues involving wetlands here in the mid-Atlantic region, but her expertise is also sought out in the development of national wetlands regulations,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “She’s advised and represented the agency in some of the most environmentally significant, legally complex, and politically sensitive water and wetlands matters, and her counsel on all these has been invaluable.”

“Wetlands play an important part in the aquatic ecosystem and in ensuring that the water that people rely on for drinking, fishing and swimming remains clean and safe. I feel privileged to play a role in their protection,” said Shamet, one of the attorneys in EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional office in Philadelphia.

During her 14-year tenure at EPA, she has provided counseling and enforcement representation for the region's water pollution control program, including the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

A graduate of Georgetown University College (B.A., 1986) and the University of Virginia School of Law (J.D., 1989), Shamet came to EPA after four years as an associate at Steptoe & Johnson, LLP in Washington, D.C., and two years as a staff attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She also spent two years as a law clerk to the Hon. Murray M. Schwartz (Senior Judge) and the Hon. Joseph J. Farnan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

EPA’s mid-Atlantic region includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.