Thomas O’Neill, first DEP deputy commissioner, dies at 83

Thomas M. O’Neill, who served as the first deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection when the agency was created in 1970 and later became a prominent figure in the state’s public policy community, died on September 17 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, complicated by COVID-related pneumonia. He was 83.

O’Neill also served a term on the Pennington Borough Council in the 1970s

He worked with the state’s first commissioner, Richard J. Sullivan, after Gov. William Cahill and the legislature created the new department.  He also directed the Division of Marine Services and helped establish the state’s first Energy Office.

O’Neill later became president and CEO of the Princeton-based Center for Analysis of Public Issues, where he edited New Jersey Reporter magazine. He was a commentator on NJ Nightly News and hosted “Mainstream,” a public affairs program on WNET and New Jersey Public Television.

He later became the founding executive director of the Partnership for New Jersey, a coalition of business and nonprofit leaders. There, he helped develop Leadership New Jersey and played a role in creating Leadership Trenton and Leadership Newark.

After leaving the Partnership, O’Neill remained active in public affairs, including serving as a senior advisor to Rep. Rush Holt.

O’Neill was a longtime member and board chairman of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, now known as The Watershed Institute.