Barbara Bell, the Big Island's director of the Department of Environmental Management, is resigning, Mayor Harry Kim announced.

Kim said yesterday that Bell expressed a desire to resign several months ago because of family obligations but remained on the job at Kim's request to handle critical issues related to the future of solid-waste management on the island.

Bell, a Hilo resident and former co-chair of the Hawai'i Green Party in the 1990s, was appointed to the Environmental Management job by Kim in 2002. The department includes the solid waste and sewer systems.

Bell's resignation takes effect at the end of the month.