Jason Batchelder
NEIWPCC Executive Committee Member
Jason Batchelder was appointed as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in September 2023. Batchelder previously served as the colonel of the Vermont Fish and Game Warden Service from 2014 until he retired in 2022. Batchelder leads DEC’s 300 employees working to promote clean air, clean water, and healthy communities in Vermont. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine.
Pete LaFlamme
Representative of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Executive Committee and Commissioners
Since 2007, Pete LaFlamme has been director of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Watershed Management Division. Previously, he established DEC’s Stormwater Program and went on to develop and manage a number of stormwater regulatory and policy initiatives including a comprehensive program for managing stormwater-impaired state waters. Throughout his career, LaFlamme has specialized in mathematical modeling of water resources and water resources engineering. He did graduate coursework at the University of Vermont’s Water Resources Research Center, specializing in water resources analysis and modeling, and has a bachelor’s in environmental analysis from the University of New England.
Julie Arel
Julie Arel was named interim commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health (DOH) in April 2025. She was appointed deputy commissioner in July of 2022. Arel served for eight years as director of the Health Department’s Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She also was the section chief managing the operational aspects of the department’s COVID-19 pandemic emergency response. Before joining the DOH, Arel had been the executive director for Open Door Clinic in Middlebury, Parent to Parent of Vermont and Vermont Family Network, and the New England Rural Health Roundtable. She is a graduate of Smith College and earned Masters’ degrees in social work and in public health from Boston University.
Dr. Lori Cragin
Representative of the Vermont Department of Heath Commissioner at NEIWPCC Meetings of the Commissioners
Dr. Lori Cragin is the division director and state epidemiologist for the environmental health division at the Vermont Department of Health. She has served in this role since 2011. Cragin previously oversaw the radon, school health, climate change and Environmental Public Health Tracking programs at the Health Department. Cragin received her doctorate from Colorado State University and her masters from Antioch New England Graduate School.
Dennis Lutz
Dennis Lutz, P.E, retired as the Public Works director for the Town of Essex, Vermont in 2022 after serving in the position for 37 years. His position covered a wide range of responsibilities including program administration, capital planning and execution, financial controls, infrastructure management, and environmental programs. Lutz serves as an elected water commissioner to the Champlain Water District. He also spent 37 years in military service, beginning on active duty as an engineer in Vietnam and Oregon and later as a member of the Vermont National Guard and assistant adjutant general for the Army. Lutz has a master’s and bachelor’s in civil engineering from Cornell University, and is a certified professional engineer in civil and sanitary engineering in Vermont.