EPA's Newest Environmental Cops

They are the crime fighters of the EPA. They have the only job in the agency where a firearm is part of the uniform. Philadelphia's Special Agent-in-Charge, James L. Thompson Jr., explained that the three new special agents who recently joined his division will investigate allegations of environmental violations. "Lying, cheating, stealing, falsifying documents, those are the kinds of cases CID (EPA's Criminal Investigation Division) investigates," he said. "Someone who dumps hazardous waste into a water supply because he doesn't want to pay to dispose of it properly. Or an asbestos contractor who hired poor people at $5 an hour to rip out the stuff without any protective equipment. These are just a sample of the cases we get involved in."

Leslie Cagle, 23, thought she was going to be a scientist. Instead, the Georgia native is following in her father's footsteps. Jason Burgess, 26, has wanted to be an EPA criminal investigator since he was 8 years old growing up in Blackwood, N.J. And Virginia Cody, 32, who has been working in EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region for 17 years, decided it was time to get out from behind a desk and see first hand how the EPA actually helps people.

Leslie Cagle

While majoring in ecology at the University of Georgia, Leslie worked at EPA's regional lab in Athens, Ga. She loved the science and spending her workday outdoors collecting soil and water samples. But a diving program in Florida during the summer of 2000 had an unexpected twist. "I met my first CID agent," she said with a laugh. "He was in my diving class and he was the first one to mention that EPA had a criminal investigation division."

Leslie knew all about CID because her dad had been a special agent in the U.S. Army for 12 years. When she was a kid, her dad would often take her and her brother to work with him. "He would fingerprint us and take our mug shots," she said. Those visits must have had a powerful effect because not only did Leslie decide to apply for a CID position, her brother, David, is now a police officer in Fayetteville, Ga. "I never expected to follow in my father's footsteps and he was shocked when I told him I applied," Leslie said. "My dad is very proud of both of us."

Leslie was hired in April 2002, spent four months in training, and moved to Philadelphia in August. She is finding the weather here something of a challenge after living in Georgia for 14 years. "I'm not used to the cold," she said. "And I really got initiated with 10 inches of snow in December. In Georgia you occasionally get snow but nothing like 10 inches." (And this article was written before February 2002's blizzard!)

The job is everything she hoped it would be. "I absolutely love it," she said. "There's a lot to learn and it's very different from lab work, but it's the same mission. This is how I make a difference, by solving these cases. It's a challenge to bring all the puzzle pieces together."

Jason Burgess

Sometimes it seems to Jason that he's been immersed in environmental issues his whole life. Well, actually he has. Jason grew up in Blackwood, N.J. with the Gems Landfill Superfund site in his backyard. "For years we would go sledding there during the winter. We used to play football there," Jason said. "It was our playground and it was only three houses down. There was even a newspaper photo of me and my friends playing baseball right in front of the landfill."

The defining moment for Jason's choice of career actually happened when he was 8 years old. "EPA came in to clean this place up and they put in a chain link fence all around the property," he said. "I was walking along the fence one day and there was a guy in a Tyvek suit taking notes from the air monitor. I asked him about the air samples and whether the air was safe. With a straight face he said it was safe on my side of the fence. "I knew he wasn't telling me the truth. I mean I was only 8, but I wasn't stupid." Eventually the site, which was considered at the time to be the 12th most polluted landfill in America, was remediated. And even though many lawsuits were filed, no one got any money. "It seemed to me that the people who did all the polluting got away scot-free," he said.

His experience inspired a desire to protect the environment. The route he would take would be through law enforcement. As a sophomore at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Jason found out about the EPA's CID from a brochure. From that moment on, his mind was set on becoming a special agent. The first hurdle was arranging an internship. He was chosen, but Drexel does not allow internships. And CID requires that the intern receive college credit for the work. Jason tried working the system from every angle he could think of. Nothing panned out and he almost threw in the towel – until he talked a teacher into allowing him to take the internship as an independent study.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred during his last week of independent study, which only made him more determined than ever to join CID. Three months later EPA advertised 37 special agent positions. "They were all outstanding scholar positions, and when I went back for my senior year, I did everything I could to make sure I got all As," Jason said. He applied for all 37 positions to increase his chances. "I was trying to show that I was willing to move," he said. Jason interviewed in Philadelphia and all the recommendations were funneled into a central database at EPA headquarters in Washington, DC.

To his delight, Jason not only landed one of the positions, but he got to stay in Philadelphia. "I was amazingly lucky," he said. "When I went through the training, only one other person got the city where he lived." Jason is now investigating Clean Water Act cases and will soon begin training to become a firearms instructor. "I love it. I can't wait until I can start working on my own cases," he said.

Virginia Cody

Virginia knows all about perseverance, determination and patience. As a working mother with two children, she has met the challenge of balancing family and a full-time career with attending college full time. While working as a law clerk in the EPA Office of Regional Counsel (ORC) in Philadelphia, Virginia earned her associate's degree in science and was later hired as a paralegal in ORC. Not an easy accomplishment since her daughter, Porschetta, was born two weeks before graduation.

For the next several years Virginia drafted legal documents as a paralegal and raised her growing family. Her son, Trey, was born in 1992. But she still had her heart set on a bachelor's degree. Especially since she emphasized the importance of education to her children. "My daughter wants to become a pediatrician and my son wants to be an architect," she said. "I believed that it was important to show them by example. I want to be a good role model for them."

So when her kids were 7 and 5, Virginia felt it was time to continue her education and returned to school. "The years flew by because I was always on the go," she said. "I attended college full time, worked full time and did my school work on the train. It was very difficult, but if you want something badly enough, you find the inner strength to push on."

The effort obviously paid off. Virginia graduated at the top of her class with a bachelor of science degree from Pierce College in 1999. A summa cum laude student with a 4.0 grade point average, she delivered the commencement address.

The next step for Virginia was making the leap to CID special agent. In ORC she worked closely with CID, which piqued her interest. "I wanted to get out from under the paper work," she said. "In ORC you are behind the scenes. You don't get out in the field to actually meet the people and interview them. I wanted to experience how the work we do actually impacts people.

Virginia has been with CID for 18 months and she loves the work. "I now get to see first hand how what I do affects the public. It's exactly what I hoped it would be. Everyday is a challenge." She is thankful for her colleagues in ORC for supporting her and her decision. "I have been truly blessed to be part of EPA's ORC family" she said.

Note: To get in touch with Special Agent-in-Charge James L. Thompson, Jr., please call the CID at 215/814-2360. CID's Mid-Atlantic special agents are based in Philadelphia, Wheeling, W. Va., Fort George Meade, Md., and Arlington, Va.

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