October 2009
| PLEASE NOTE: Some newsletter content is only available to members in good standing of NMSHMM. |
- President's Message - Field Trip to AMEC in October
- Registration Continues for the Essentials of Hazardous Materials Management Course
- Local News Stories
- Upcoming Meetings and Events
- Monthly Meeting Location
- Job Openings
- NMSHMM Officers and Committee Chairs
| Our Mission |
| To
provide environmental professionals in the Southwest a
forum for professional development, education, and networking opportunities; and to offer our community environmental, health, and safety expertise |
President's Message - Field Trip to AMEC in October
Mike Sanders, CPG, CHMM
GRAM, Inc.
A NMSHMM Field Trip to AMEC Materials Testing Laboratory, 8519 Jefferson NE will be held on Tuesday, October 20, from 11:30 am to 1:00 PM. The field trip will include a classroom presentation on engineered foamed asphalt. The asphalt classroom presentation will focus on application and design of foamed asphalt. The classroom discussion will be followed by a foamed asphalt demonstration. Lunch will be served during the presentation. A tour of the AMEC Materials Testing Facility will also be provided. Various geotechnical and materials testing procedures will be demonstrated during the laboratory tour. Safety glasses will be provided to tour participants for the laboratory portion of the tour. Complementary lunch will be provided to those who attend the field trip so please confirm by email to Vickie Maranville at on or before October 16, 2009. If you have questions regarding this event, please call Vickie Maranville at 505-850-4530. This field trip is being held in lieu of the regular October lunch meeting on that day. There is NO LUNCH MEETING at the Golden Corral restaurant in October.
Planning is in full swing for the upcoming Essentials of Hazardous Materials Management (EHMM) course, to be held on Monday-Wednesday November 16-18 at the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) District 1 Office, at San Antonio and I-25 (see additional information from EHMM honcho and coordinator Paul Karas below).
Folks have been slow to sign up for the EHMM course this year, so we ask that all members please help us get out the word, and identify and encourage folks that you know that could be interested in taking this course. The EHMM is an excellent way to review and prepare for the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) exam (as I found out several years ago when I took the course), and is also the primary event that funds NMSHMM activities (such as sending reigning Presidents like myself to the AHMP National Conference). A lot of work goes into preparing for and presenting this course, and we are hoping for another good turnout this year. We need your help to make this event successful again this year.
I, Paul Karas, and some other friends will be descending into the depths of the Grand Canyon at the end of September, and then I’ll be tromping around the wilds of Utah and Colorado until about October 20, so will be out of touch until then. I’m looking forward to a nice fall break, and seeing other NMSHMM folks at the AMEC field trip, and the EHMM course. See you then, be safe!
Registration Continues for the Essentials of Hazardous Materials Management Course
Paul Karas, CPG, CHMM
The 2009 Essentials of Hazardous Materials Management (EHMM) Course will be held November 16 - 18, 2009, at the NMED District 1 office, 5500 San Antonio Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM. The $645 Discount Rate for early registration has been extended through October 11, 2009. After this date, the course registration fee will increase to $695 (still a great deal for 3 days of intensive environmental training).
The 3-day course offers a comprehensive review of the physical and chemical properties of hazardous materials, environmental laws and regulations, and safety and health principles important to every environmental and safety professional. This is an excellent opportunity to prepare for the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) or Certified Hazardous Materials Professional (CHMP) Exam or to satisfy training or re-certification requirements, enhance competence in the profession, and to stay current with new rules and regulations.
For information about course registration visit the NMSHMM website. Please contact Paul Karas, NMSHMM Education/Professional Development Committee Chair, at 505-243-3200 or if you are interested in learning more about the EHMM, to volunteer for the EHMM organizing committee, or to be considered as an instructor.
Local News Stories
Compiled by Eric Johnson, AICP, CHMM
The following are news stories reported during the past month:
- The Bureau of Land Management is investigating whether the sale of crushed basalt rock at the Caja de Rio Landfill, operated by the Santa Fe Waste Management Agency, was an unauthorized use of federally-owned minerals. The landfill needed to blast and remove rock to make room for more solid waste.
(Santa Fe New Mexican, 9-4-09)
- Clovis Community College added a wind energy program to their program offerings. Twenty students are currently enrolled in the wind energy program.
(Albuquerque Journal, 9-5-09)
- New Mexico Tech will receive $994,000 to develop a carbon sequestration project, which will study ways to store greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, in geologic formations in order to reduce global warming. Funding will be provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as ARRA or stimulus funds.
(Albuquerque Journal, 9-5-09)
- Western Refining, Environmental Protection Agency, and NMED agreed to a consent agreement regarding Western Refining’s violation of federal hazardous waste rules at their refinery in Jamestown, located 17 miles east of Gallup. Western Refining will pay $734,008, stop discharging benzene to aeration lagoons, and close to aeration lagoons that received hazardous waste.
(EPA News Release, 9-9-09)
- Approximately 12,000 gallons of oil mixed with natural gas (called drip gas) spilled at a well site near the Colorado border north of Aztec when someone tried to steal fuel at the well. “It’s a very popular thing for people to steal gas. You can run a car off (drip gas). It will eventually break the car down, but you can do it,” said State Police Officer James Rempe.
(Albuquerque Journal, 9-11-09)
- The Solar Testing and Research (STAR) Center and Belen Energy Park will be located at the Belen Airport. The center and energy park are projected to create 80-100 construction jobs and 40-50 permanent jobs.
(Albuquerque Journal, 9-12-09)
- Schott Solar’s North American headquarters will move to Albuquerque. This move will relocate some departments from Roseville, California, but there will be no overall increase in jobs in Albuquerque.
(Albuquerque Journal, 9-12-09)
- The Sun Zia transmission line project proposes to have a line extending to Lincoln County, just south of Corona. Northern Lincoln County has areas with high wind speeds that are suitable for developing wind farms. The Sun Zia transmission lines will help provide renewable energy to Arizona, California, and Nevada.
(Albuquerque Journal, 9-19-09)
- A federal appeals board ordered EPA to reconsider the air permit they issued to the Desert Rock Energy Project. The project proposed to construct a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico.
(New York Times, 9-27-09)
- Sandoval County has initiated desalinization tests of a briny aquifer located 3,500 feet below the Rio Puerco basin. It is estimated that the aquifer contains enough water to supply 300,000 people for 100 years.
(Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook, 9-28-09)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory is demolishing white-domed, steel and heavy duty fabric structures that were used to store transuranic waste at Technical Area 54. The structures once contained 4,000 barrels of transuranic waste, which has since been shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) near Carlsbad. (Santa Fe New Mexican, 9-30-09)
|
Society luncheon meetings are held at
Golden Corral Buffet on Central and Eubank (10415 Central Avenue NE) at 11:30 on the third Wednesday of the month (except Mar. and Dec.) |
| October 2009 |
October 6, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at the Golden Corral (10415 Central Avenue NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque. For more information, e-mail .
October 8, New Mexico Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) technical meeting, Furr’s Fresh Buffet, 2004 Wyoming Blvd. NE. For more information, e-mail .
October 20, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Field Trip to AMEC Materials Testing Laboratory, 8519 Jefferson NE. Lunch will be provided. RSVP to .
October 20, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
| November 2009 |
November 3, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at the Golden Corral (10415 Central Avenue NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque. For more information, e-mail .
November 12, New Mexico Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) technical meeting, Furr’s Fresh Buffet, 2004 Wyoming Blvd. NE. For more information, e-mail .
November 16-18, Essentials of Hazardous Materials Management (EHMM) Course presented by NMSHMM at the NMED Albuquerque office, 5500 San Antonio Drive NE. For more information, please click here.
November -date to be determined, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
November -date to be determined, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Golden Corral (10415 Central NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque.
| December 2009 |
December 1, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at the Golden Corral (10415 Central Avenue NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque. For more information, e-mail .
December 10, New Mexico Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) technical meeting, Furr’s Fresh Buffet, 2004 Wyoming Blvd. NE. For more information, e-mail .
December 15, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
NMSHMM Annual Christmas Social, watch future newsletters for more information.
| January 2010 |
January 5, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at the Golden Corral (10415 Central Avenue NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque. For more information, e-mail .
January 14, New Mexico Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) technical meeting, Furr’s Fresh Buffet, 2004 Wyoming Blvd. NE. For more information, e-mail .
January 19, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
January 20, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Golden Corral (10415 Central NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque.
Did we miss something? To get your event added to the calendar please contact Eric Johnson at .
|
Society business meetings are
held at
AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, at 5:00 on the third Tuesday of the month (except Mar. and Dec.) |
Our regular monthly meetings are held at Golden Corral Buffet on Central and Eubank (10415 Central Avenue NE - click here for a map). Meetings are held the third Wednesday of the month (unless replaced by a special event as announced via this newsletter) from 11:30 am until 1:00 pm. If you have any ideas for speakers or field trips, please contact a NMSHMM board member.
For the latest job openings, please click here. (MEMBERS ONLY)
NMSHMM OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS
|
Officers:
President
Past-President
President-Elect
Treasurer
Secretary
At-Large Director At-Large Director |
Committee Chairs: Communication Education/Professional
Development
Membership |
Please send contributions for future newsletters to Eric Johnson at . Thanks!