Andrea Abat: Special Agent for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Andrea Abat has been a Special Agent for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 1997. Andrea first became familiar with environmental issues as an Army Officer stationed in Germany since her unit generated hazardous waste in the process of making field maps and Germany had strict environmental compliance laws. Knowing that she wanted to work in the environmental field, she first became an Emergency Response Contractor responding to serious environmental disasters. In this capacity, she often worked alongside EPA special agents, an involvement which sparked her interest in environmental crime investigation and ultimately led to her becoming a special agent herself.

EPA”s special agents are responsible for investigating allegations of environmental crime and assisting the Department of Justice in building and prosecuting successful criminal cases involving the most egregious violations of environmental statutes, thus deterring future crimes. They are federal law enforcement officers with complete statutory authority to conduct investigations, carry firearms, make arrests for any federal crime, and execute and serve warrants.