Grannis, a 2007 Spitzer appointee, has, throughout his decades-long career as a public servant, been a steadfast champion of the environment.
Grannis was receiving an award for environmental stewardship when he was fired.
According to widely-published media reports, the Paterson Administration sacked Grannis because of a leaked memo describing in precise detail how Paterson's most recent round of budget and staff cuts would effectively decommission the DEC.
The Albany Times Union picked up the memo and ran a story about it on Tuesday.
Click here to read the memo, revealing how the agency's core functions, like monitoring air and water pollution, cleaning up toxic chemical spills, and overseeing hazardous waste disposal and storage, will be all but eliminated.
In recent years, the DEC had been stripped of about 20% of its scientists, engineers and enforcement officials.
Click here to see a chart of DEC historical staff levels including the new target level, the lowest since the early 1980s.
I find it less than coincidental that Gov. Paterson, "bullish" on hydrofracking, has gutted the DEC, charged with monitoring the impact of hydrofracking for natural gas on the state's drinking water, as the State Senate-imposed moratorium on hydrofracking ticks down to its May, 2011 expiration date.
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