Former DEP chief joins politically connected firm TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Bradley Campbell, a former state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner, has joined a politically connected law firm that often does business with state government, raising concerns from environmentalists.
Campbell, DEP chief from 2002 until January, will work at Wolff & Samson, a West Orange firm active in environmental and development cases.
One of the firm's top partners is David Samson, a former state attorney general.
Campbell said he would comply with all state ethics rules and that he took the job because it will allow him to refuse to work with clients whose projects he doesn't support.
"I bring the same environmental ethic to private practice I brought to public life," Campbell said. "There are even projects that meet the requirements of regulation that I'm going to be uncomfortable working on and that I won't work on."
But Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, questioned how Campbell will work with DEP staffers who were once his subordinates.
"It looks ethically challenged at best," Tittel said.
Campbell said he won't represent clients whose projects he decided on while DEP commissioner. He said his experience will allow him to guide clients away from projects that likely won't get approval.
