December 2009
| PLEASE NOTE: Some newsletter content is only available to members in good standing of NMSHMM. |
- President's Message - 2009 – A Great Year for NMSHMM
- 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 - 2009 – A Great Year for NMSHMM
Mike Sanders, CPG, CHMM
GRAM, Inc.
EHMM Course-Big Success!!
The big NMSHMM event of the year, the
Essentials of Hazardous Materials Management (EHMM) course,
offered as a broad overview and review course and to help prepare
participants who will sit for the Certified Hazardous Materials
Manager (CHMM) and Certified Hazardous Materials Professional (CHMP)
exams, was presented on November 16-18. Education Chair and
Past-President and board member Paul Karas led the charge on
organizing this key NMSHMM function, lining up instructors from the
Albuquerque area and northern New Mexico to teach the 20+ course
modules, and coordinating assistance and participation by other
NMSHMM members to successfully complete this course. This, as
always, was truly a group effort, and was by all measures
(especially the record number of attendees)
a big success. Thanks once again are in order to NMSHMM board
members and NMED employees Sandra Martin and Brian Salem for working
behind the scenes to make the NMED District 1 office facilities (in
Albuquerque) available for this course.
I could go on and on recognizing the numerous individuals who contributed to this effort, but that would be more than most would prefer to read. Bottom line: for all of us involved in this effort (and certainly speaking for myself), it really feels good to have been part of such a successful effort. Enough said.
NMSHMM Holiday Social-Chama River
Brewing Company
The annual holiday social at the Chama
River Brewing Company on Friday, December 4 was our December
NMSHMM event. Given the success of the EHMM course, we had
additional funds available to make this a very special event. NMSHMM
board members Vickie Maranville, Sandra Martin, and Brian Pence have
really worked behind the scenes to make this holiday social a
special “party-down” function at the beginning of the busy holiday
season. We also invited members from the
New Mexico Chapter of the Society of American Military Engineers
(SAME) and the New Mexico Chapter of the American Society of Safety
Engineers (NM-ASSE) to join us for this pre-holiday party and
enjoyed seeing those folks at this joint function.
Your President’s Brief End-Of-Year
Reflections
I would like to say that it has been a very rewarding experience
(and admittedly, on occasion challenging, given the other pressures
of professional and personal daily life that all of us in this
organization routinely deal with) that I have had as President of
this organization since April 2008. High points for myself have been
the success of the get-together at the Isotopes ballpark (another
joint event with NMSHMM and the Rio Grande
Chapter of the Health Physics Society) in August, the
Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals
(AHMP) National Conference in San Diego
(August-September), and of course, the successful
EHMM course (OK, enough about that
already).
Finally, the support of a strong NMHSMM board makes the job of President a lot easier. Knowing this, I will be continuing as a board member with this fine organization, and look forward to working with and supporting our incoming President Debbie Finfrock. I encourage other NMSHMM members to “take the plunge” and get involved to maintain the viability of NMSHMM, which simply won’t happen without the participation and commitment of members like you.
The hard working NMSHMM Board, from left to right, Brian Salem (Treasurer),
Paul Karas (Education Chair), Richie Spangler (Past President and AHMP Board
Member), Brian Pence (Past President), Mike Sanders (President), Robert Rivera
(Director-at-large), Vickie Maranville (Secretary), and Sandra Martin (Director-
at-large and AHMP Membership Committee Chair).
Local News Stories
Compiled by Eric Johnson, AICP, CHMM
The following are news stories reported during the past month:
- The Carlsbad City Council and Eddy County Commission declared a state of emergency for a brine well collapse on the south edge of Carlsbad. A brine well located in the south side of Carlsbad near the US 285 and US 62/180 intersection is expected to eventually collapse. The city and county are seeking federal and state emergency funds to develop options for responding to or preventing the brine well collapse.
(Albuquerque Journal, 11-7-09)
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is stopping its three strikes rule to remove individual Mexican gray wolves that have killed through or more livestock within a year. Other factors will now be considered such as the wolf’s genetic value, presence of pups, and size of the wild wolf population.
(Albuquerque Journal, 11-14-09)
- The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) fined Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) $960,000 for not installing a groundwater monitoring network and not providing adequate data for LANL’s main waste management area.
(Albuquerque Journal, 11-24-09)
- Albuquerque airport security detected explosives residues in an empty crate being shipped from LANL to the China Lake testing range in California. The container is usually shipped by ground but is sometimes shipped by air. Airport officials were unaware of the shipping procedures, but the crate was allowed to be shipped on a later flight.
(Albuquerque Journal, 11-25-09)
- Warming temperatures and drought are killing off ponderosa pine trees at Bandelier National Monument. An international team under the direction of U.S. Geological Survey scientist Craig Allen has observed similar events elsewhere in the world. Warming temperatures may be related to global warming, but the data is too sparse to establish a direct link between global warming and the tree die-off. (Albuquerque Journal, 11-29-09)
|
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.) |
| December 2009 |
No luncheon meeting in December. We hope you were able to attend the December 4 NMSHMM Annual Holiday Social at Chama Brewing Company.
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.
| 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. Jill Holbert will discuss recycling activities at the City of Albuquerque.
| February 2010 |
February 2, 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 .
February 11, 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 .
February 16, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
February 17, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Golden Corral (10415 Central NE, northeast of Eubank) in Albuquerque.
| March 2009 |
March 2, 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 .
March 11, 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 .
March 16, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
March 17, 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!