Loggerhead Center CEO resigns after water quality issues, staff exodus. Here's what we know

JUNO BEACH — Loggerhead Marinelife Center is now without a leader after Kyle Van Houtan, its president and CEO, resigned Tuesday. His departure comes on the heels of water-quality issues in sea turtle tanks and an exodus by the staff at the research and environmental center in Juno Beach.

Two longtime government officials from Palm Beach County will lead a committee that will help steer Loggerhead to a new leadership team. The nonprofit is known throughout Florida for rehabilitating injured sea turtles and returning them to the ocean.

Van Houtan started the top job in July 2021. Shortly afterward, the center discovered issues with water quality that led to the death of three sea turtle hatchlings in October. The center's staff said they learned of Van Houtan’s departure in an email sent at the same time as the public news release.

Read our report on the issues: Where are the turtles? Inside Juno Loggerhead Marinelife Center's water quality, staffing issues

Scientists at the center said they suspected problems with the water-intake system after a January 2021 beach renourishment project in Juno Beach added sand to the surrounding area, resulting in less ocean water and more runoff entering the tanks.

While Van Houtan said the center was addressing issues with sea-turtle tank salinity and with small bubbles in the water, the Loggerhead staff took issue with his communication style. More than a dozen people have resigned from the center since Van Houtan's start, The Palm Beach Post reported April 27.

The center announced that former County Administrator Bob Weisman and former Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater will chair an "operational improvement" committee to create a transition plan for the center to find a new chief executive and a new director of rehabilitation.

Led by two men who loom large in Palm Beach County politics, the committee may also need to assuage major donors unsettled by the water-quality problems and abrupt change in leadership at the center.

“While we have been committed to supporting Dr. Van Houtan, we understand his decision, thank him for everything he has accomplished in his time with us, and wish him the very best,'' Loggerhead board chairman Brian Waxman said Tuesday.

Who was Loggerhead Marinelife Center's embattled CEO?

Prior to joining Loggerhead, Van Houtan was the chief scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California from 2016 until May 2021.

Previously, he was the marine turtle assessment program leader for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He holds a doctorate degree in ecology and environmental ethics from Duke University.

But his communication style may have contributed to resignations by outgoing Loggerhead staff members and is the basis of at least one lawsuit.

In late March, the center's former marketing director sued Loggerhead, accusing Van Houtan and the center's management of misleading her and the public about the water-quality issues in the turtle tanks.

In the lawsuit, Marilu Flores called her experience at Loggerhead a "nightmare" and detailed attempts by Van Houtan to cover up water-quality issues, such as hiring a crisis-management firm and directing staff members "not to tell anyone" about the center's problems.

Van Houtan told The Post he had met with Loggerhead's scientists, education coordinators and volunteers to identify and address issues.

"We understand change does not come easily, and we are working to improve the situation by increasing communication and accepting more input from our stakeholders," he told The Post.

But staff members said they were "cut out" by Van Houtan for bringing their concerns about management to human resources. Others said he prevented them from getting raises, awards for their work and grants for new projects.

One staff member accused Van Houtan of turning the “family atmosphere” of Loggerhead into a “toxic wasteland.”

Now the mass resignations have put the center's permits at risk.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issues permits to "qualified individuals" to handle sea turtles instead of to institutions, and staff members say at least 20 full-time employees have resigned or are in the process of leaving their positions.

Loggerhead has 30 days to hire new "qualified individuals" who can hold the permits, or the center is at risk of losing them and its abilities to host and rehabilitate turtles.

Reaction from staff, board of directors to Van Houtan's departure

Half a dozen current and former employees who spoke to The Post prior to Van Houtan’s resignation said they want the center to succeed, and those who have left said they would happily return to Loggerhead if the issues were resolved.

Following The Post’s initial reporting, Loggerhead’s board of directors convened an investigative committee to interview remaining staff members about the water-quality and management issues. Staff members estimated about half the employees met with the investigative committee.

On April 28, staff members at the center sent a letter to its board of directors calling for a "no confidence" vote in Van Houtan. While it's not clear that vote occurred, the staff members who signed the letter questioned Van Houtan's hiring and urged the board to act.

"Van Houtan has burned bridges with donors and local government agencies with whom we have decades-long relationships," reads the letter, which staff members provided to The Post. "Scientific collaborators no longer want their names affiliated with our company. Most importantly, Van Houtan’s poor leadership has led to a complete resignation of our hospital staff and 26 empty hospital tanks."

Some of the negative community reaction to Loggerhead’s continued problems was aimed at the board of directors, which helped interview and select Van Houtan as well as to raise funds for the center’s now-completed $26 million expansion.

But staff and board members who spoke with The Post said some may have been left in the dark about concerns with Van Houtan’s leadership.

Now the board is showing a united front. Waxman said Tuesday in the center’s news release that the committee led by Weisman, a Wellington resident, and Atwater, who lives in North Palm Beach, will lead the center through its recovery.

“We are excited that Bob and Jeff have agreed to oversee our operational improvement plan to resolve water-quality issues, as well as enhance our culture and standards to attract and retain a talented and passionate workforce,” Waxman said.

kkokal@pbpost.com

@katikokal

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Loggerhead Marinelife Center CEO resigns amid water quality, staff issues