In an effort to promote environmental safety and responsibility for citizens,

City Manager Wayne A. Cauthen announced Friday the appointment of Dennis Murphey as the city's chief environmental officer. Murphey will report to Cauthen and begin working for the city April 3.

"The city has a tremendous responsibility to make sure our air, land and water are not only safe today, but that they also are prepared to sustain the needs of future generations. With Dennis Murphey, we begin a new era in this dedication," Cauthen said.

Murphey has been the chief environmental regulatory official overseeing chemical weapons destruction for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in Hermiston, Ore., since 2003. Before that, he was the director of the Office of Environmental Management for the city of Cincinnati, 1997-2003; director of the Center for Environmental Education and Training for the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan., 1993-1997; regulatory compliance manager for Roberts/Schornick & Associates Inc., Norman, Okla., 1990-1993; director of the Environmental Affairs Office for the National Fertilizer Solutions Association, St. Louis, Mo., 1989-1990; director of the Bureau of Waste Management in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, Kan., 1984-1989; director of the Bureau of Environmental Remediation in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, Kan., 1986-1987; and manager of the Environmental and Quality Control Office (Verdigris Plant) for Agrico Chemical Company, Catoosa, Okla., 1976-1983.

Some of the highlights from Murphey's career include:

• Overseeing the U.S. Army and its contractor as they destroyed a stockpile of chemical weapons containing 7.4 million lbs. of nerve agents and blister agents at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.
  
• Implementing innovative approaches and collaborative efforts to address environmental issues for the city of Cincinnati.
  
• Conducting training programs at the University of Kansas that were attended annually by more than 2,000 environmental professionals.
  
• Developing a national program of environmental information and assistance for retail fertilizer and agrichemical dealers.
  
• Administering the statewide regulatory programs for hazardous waste management and contaminated site cleanup for the State of Kansas.
  
• Preparing and delivering testimony about proposed environmental legislation to the Kansas legislature.

Murphey has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Okla.; and a master's degree in biochemistry from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla.

He has been a member of the American Public Works Association, Air and Waste Management Association, National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, and the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials.