PROVIDENCE – The Narragansett Bay Commission has named Laurie Horridge, a lawyer and veteran officer of the commission, to lead the agency as its next executive director.
The agency’s board of commissioners approved Horridge, who will take over operations of Rhode Island’s largest wastewater-treatment utility in January, when current Executive Director Raymond J. Marshall retires, the agency announced Thursday.
The commission is empowered by the state to protect and enhance the water quality in Narragansett Bay – the lifeblood of the state’s marine and recreational industries – and its tributaries by providing safe and reliable wastewater collection and treatment services to its customers at a reasonable cost.
As executive director, Horridge will be responsible for all aspects of the commission’s operations, including strategic planning, staff development and retention, budget development and oversight, engineering and construction capital planning, and operation of the wastewater collection and treatment facilities.
She joined the agency in 1992 as chief of enforcement, after spending several years in private law practice focusing on engineering and construction litigation.
In her later roles with the commission as general counsel, director of executive affairs, and director of administration, she has provided counsel and oversight of the agency’s extensive construction projects. That has included Phases 1, 2, and 3 of the nearly $1 billion Combined Sewer Overflow project and $200 million in wastewater-treatment facility improvements, the agency said.
Horridge also has been instrumental in negotiating the commission’s clean-water permits with the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, the agency said.
Horridge holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Providence College and a law degree from the Western New England School of Law. She also is a recent graduate of the Water and Wastewater Leadership Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She is admitted to the Rhode Island Bar Association, where she has served as a House of Delegates elected member since 1992.
Marshall has been the commission’s executive director since January 2007. He joined the commission in 1992 as a deputy director following a stint as an engineering consultant for the town of Burrillville.
Since joining the commission, Marshall has provided direct management of the commission’s extensive engineering and construction activity. That has included Phase 1 of the Combined Sewer Overflow project, the $65 million upgrade of the commission’s Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facility, and the $60 million nitrogen-reduction project at the Field’s Point Wastewater Treatment Facility. He also has coordinated the development of the commission’s comprehensive Asset Management Program and Strategic Plan, the agency said.
In 2002, Marshall was named Engineer of the Year by the Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Northeastern University.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
