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Q: What events led to your return to EPA as Deputy Administrator in 1983?

MR. ALM: While I was ensconced at Harvard University, running the energy security program, I remember reading in the newspaper about the problems at EPA. They made their way all the way to "Doonesbury." I had heard a rumor that Ruckelshaus was going to be the next administrator, and I confidently told the source of that rumor that it would never happen - people do not come back to the same position. But, Bill did come back and he asked me if I would come on board as his deputy. I said I would.

I was surprised at this turn of events. At that point in time, I did not think that I would be coming back to government. But I felt the agency was really in need of some help, and if Bill believed I was the right person, I was willing to do it.

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