Trey Glenn, the man President Donald Trump tapped to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional operations in the Southeast who now faces indictment in Alabama, has a history of entanglements with Alabama’s state ethics laws.

Glenn was the first EPA regional director appointed by the Trump Administration in 2017, and oversees the agency’s operations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Before accepting his EPA job, Glenn faced numerous controversies while running Alabama’s state environmental agency and as a private consultant.

Rocky tenure at Alabama’s environmental agency

Glenn was the director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management from 2005-2009. His tenure at ADEM was overshadowed by a year-long ethics investigation surrounding Glenn’s previous job heading Alabama’s Office of Water Resources.

An ethics complaint in 2007 alleged Glenn and his family traveled to Walt Disney World and Hilton Head, S.C. on private flights paid for by public relations firm Matrix, while Glenn worked for the Office of Water Resources. Matrix represented Malcolm Pirnie, an environmental engineering firm that did work for the Office of Water Resources.

Second, the complaint stated that Glenn signed off on invoices from Malcolm Pirnie while under consideration for the ADEM job.

Scott Phillips, who was then chair of the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, was also head of the Birmingham office of Malcolm Pirnie. Phillips did not vote on Glenn’s hiring, but the commission found probable cause that Glenn had used his position at the Office Water Resources to help obtain the ADEM director’s job.

Phillips, like Glenn, was indicted Tuesday on Alabama ethics charges related to efforts to stop a polluted neighborhood in north Birmingham from being listed on the EPA’s National Priorities List.

Glenn’s attorney, James Anderson, told The Birmingham News at the time that Glenn testified he had paid back the public relations firm for the flights in question, which were mistakenly paid for by the firm. Anderson said approval of invoices was a routine part of Glenn’s job, and he did not select Malcolm Pirnie for the work.

The Alabama Ethics Commission voted 4-0 to refer Glenn for prosecution on those charges, but a grand jury declined to indict him on those charges in early 2009.

Glenn also stirred controversy by attending a Montgomery Biscuits baseball game with several family members as guests of Alabama Power, which is regulated by ADEM. Glenn worked at Alabama Power for seven years as an engineer before joining the state’s Office of Water Resources, but said the tickets for that game had been given to his mother, Jo Glenn, who was then mayor of Wetumpka.

Glenn resigned from ADEM in 2009 to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

Private contractor

After leaving ADEM, Glenn worked as a consultant for a number of controversial industries, including the landfill that imported trainloads of sewage sludge from New York and New Jersey to rural Jefferson County, and he was also a registered lobbyist for the Business Council of Alabama.

But his indictment centers around work he performed as a consultant to stop the listing of the 35th Avenue site on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List.

The EPA was investigating the neighborhood for potential listing on the NPL to receive priority funding for Superfund cleanup of contaminated soil in poor residential neighborhoods largely populated by African-Americans surrounded by numerous heavy industrial operations.

The EPA named five industries, including Drummond Company, as potentially responsible parties that could be forced to pay for the cleanup. Drummond, through lawfirm Balch & Bingham, hired a company run by Glenn and Phillips as consultants to assist in their efforts to defeat the proposed listing of the Superfund site.

Glenn was a registered lobbying, making him subject to Alabama’s ethics laws, and Phillips was at the time on the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, the civilian board that oversees ADEM.

Earlier this summer, Drummond Vice-President David Roberson and Balch attorney Joel Gilbert were convicted of bribery, money laundering and other charges in relation to efforts to oppose the listing, which included paying a state lawmaker, then-Rep. Oliver Robinson, to encourage people not to get their soil tested to see if it contained high levels of contaminants including lead, arsenic or benzo(A)pyrene, a known carcinogen.

Glenn and Phillips both testified as witnesses in that trial about their role in the operation.

Environmental complaints

Aside from ethics issues, numerous Alabama environmental groups protested Glenn’s performance as head of ADEM, citing what they called a dramatic decrease in enforcement actions taken by the regulatory agency.

Several groups joined together to form the ADEM Reform Coalition, citing a 78 percent drop in pollution penalties in 2009 compared to previous years. Glenn argued those figures were incomplete and did not tell the whole story, arguing there was ''less of a focus on quantity and more of a focus on quality'' at the agency, according to The Birmingham News archives.

“Trey Glenn consistently sided against the protection of public health and Alabama’s natural resources through his tenure as ADEM Director,” said Mobile Baykeeper Casi Callaway. "By the end of his term, he refused to meet with members of the environmental community, instead favoring the business sector where he quickly landed after quitting ADEM.

“He has made his interests clear - industry over environment and community. If that remains consistent while at EPA, the environmental community will have an even bigger battle.”

Praise on nomination

When he was announced as EPA’s new Region 4 administrator, numerous Alabama political figures praised his appointment.

“We are proud to have a person of Trey Glenn’s caliber leading such an important organization for our area,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a news release. “His experience as Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management places him in a unique position to be prepared to work with these southern states. We are also especially glad to know someone with in-depth knowledge of Alabama will be overseeing our region.”

Current ADEM Director Lance LeFleur, who succeeded Glenn at ADEM, also issued a vote of confidence.

“President Trump made a wise choice in selecting Trey,” LeFleur said. “I am confident he will do an outstanding job, especially considering he will have an exceptionally fine career staff in Region 4 at his side. I look forward to working with Trey in assuring for Alabama citizens a safe, healthful, and productive environment.”