February 2010
| PLEASE NOTE: Some newsletter content is only available to members in good standing of NMSHMM. |
- President's Message: Election Results - Just In
- News Flash: Catherine Werner Recognized as a Fellow of the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM)
- Local News Stories
- Upcoming Meetings and Events
- Monthly Meeting Location
- Job Openings (Last Update: December 18, 2009)
- 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: Election Results - Just In
Mike Sanders, CPG, CHMM
GRAM, Inc.
The election for the 2010/2011 NMSHMM board is finished! A total of 23 (out of about 55 current NMSHMM members) voted. It was a close race and fortunately no hanging chad issues were encountered! Results are as follows:
- Sandra Martin is the new President-Elect;
- Debbie Finfrock moves into the President’s slot;
- Mike Sanders becomes Past-President;
- Brian Salem and Vicki Maranville continue in their second (and final) year as Treasurer and Secretary, respectively; and,
- Brian Pence (current Past-President) will now be a Director-At-Large, and Kelly Bowles (past NMSHMM treasurer) returns as the second Director-At-Large (welcome back Kelly!).
The new board will take over on April 1, 2010. Thanks to all NMSHMM members who took the time to vote in this board election.
For the February lunch meeting, we will be joining up with the New Mexico Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). The joint ASSE/NMSHMM lunch will take place on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, at 12:00 PM, at the Furrs Family Dining, 2004 Wyoming NE (Wyoming and Indian School). Dave Paoletta (current NM-ASSE President) will discuss a recent project: “Argonne National Laboratory Building 310 D&D Rad Characterization Project, November - Dec 2009.” This joint lunch meeting will be held in lieu of the regular NMSHMM lunch meeting at the Golden Corral on Wednesday February 17. I look forward to seeing you there.
At the Jan. 20 NMSHMM lunch, Jill Holbert (Deputy Director with the City of Albuquerque Recycling Program) gave a very interesting and lively presentation about the current state of the City of Albuquerque recycling program, and the challenges the City faces in dealing with the large volume of material that is being offered for recycling. Her talk generated a lot of discussion, and a lively Q&A session following the presentation. For those who missed Jill’s talk, she’ll be giving it again at the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) lunch meeting at the Golden Corral (Eubank) on Tuesday February 2, 12:00 pm. It’s worth hearing if you missed the Jan. 20 lunch./p>
News Flash:
Catherine Werner Recognized as a Fellow of the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM)
On February 5, the IHMM announced that Catherine Werner has been recognized as a Fellow of IHMM. Catherine is a past NMSHMM President and past Treasurer of the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers. We congratulate Catherine on her nomination. The following paragraph on Catherine was provided in the IHMM announcement.
Ms. Catherine B. Werner currently serves as the Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security Leader for GE Transportation's Global Services Organization. In this role, she provides compliance support to over 50 domestic and international locomotive service centers. Prior to this assignment, she served in several roles in GE's Aviation business including Site Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Leader, Lean Manufacturing Leader, Six Sigma Black Belt, and Operations Business Leader for a component manufacturing business. She has 20 years of environmental, health, and safety experience, specializing in process-driven EHS systems, safety and environmental compliance and auditing, and pollution prevention. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology-Environmental Studies from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and an MBA from the University of New Mexico. Catherine received her CHMM certification in February 1996. She served as National Treasurer for ACHMM (2003-2006) and as Roadrunner Chapter President (1999-2000). She currently resides with her family in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The following are news stories reported during the past month:
- Two U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration grants will be used to provide training for green industry jobs in New Mexico and other western states. Under a $4.99 million grant, the International Training Institute for Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Industry will provide training in energy-efficient building construction, retrofitting, and manufacturing. Under a $4.84 million grant, the Austin Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee will provide electrician solar training.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-7-10)
- The Center for Hazardous Materials Management in Carlsbad is moving forward with research on obtaining biofuels from algae. The advantage to algae is it grows fast with just sunlight and briney-brackish water, which is in abundance in the Carlsbad area.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-10-10)
- New Energy Economy has petitioned the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board on how to cap greenhouse gas emissions at 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce opposes pending state environmental regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions. “We further believe that any mandated cap on greenhouse gas emissions should be regulated at a federal level and apply to all businesses across the United States equally,” said chamber board chairman Michael Zientek and chamber Chief Executive Officer Terri Cole. Three state lawmakers, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association filed a law suit in Lea County against regulations to cap greenhouse gas emissions. The Farmington City Council is also considering opposing the emissions caps. (Albuquerque Journal, 1-12-10 and 1-21-10)
- Three companies with operations in New Mexico were awarded Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits under a program announced by President Barak Obama. The awards include $33 million to Schott Solar for photovoltaic panel manufacturing, $2.6 million to Sumco Phoenix for silicon wavers used in solar power modules, and $2.3 million to Johnson Plate and Power Fabrication Inc. for construction of a wind tower manufacturing plant in Santa Teresa.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-12-10)
- A proposed wind farm, located 25 miles northwest of Taos, will not be constructed. The Taos County Planning Commission blocked the proposal for environmental, health, and aesthetic reasons, and the wind farm was unable to obtain $100 million in funding.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-12-10)
- Children’s costume jewelry containing cadmium was pulled from the shelves of retailers such as Wal-Mart and the jewelry store Claire’s. In tests conducted for the Associated Press, some of the Chinese-manufactured jewelry was found to contain 10 to 91 percent cadmium, a toxic heavy metal. (Santa Fe New Mexican, 1-12-10)
- Albuquerque police found evidence of a methamphetamine lab in Albuquerque near Juan Tabo and Menaul. Hazardous chemicals were found.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-13-10)
- The clean-up of gasoline contamination at the District Court complex site in Santa Fe is expected to take two to three years and cost $5 million. The contamination plume was caused by former gas stations in the area. (Santa Fe New Mexican, 1-14-10)
- ChemRisk, a San Francisco-based firm, will evaluate potential impacts of runoff from Los Alamos National Laboratories on the Buckman Direct Diversion project, which will provide water to Santa Fe. The joint Santa Fe city/county board in charge of the Buckman project asked for the review because of public concerns about LANL waste entering the drinking water system.
(Santa Fe New Mexican, 1-15-10)
- PNM has hired First Solar Inc. to construct 22 megawatts of utility-scale photovoltaic solar plants. Five sites in New Mexico will be selected for the solar plants. The first site would be a 2-megawatt project at the PNM Reeves Generating Station, near Paseo del Norte and Jefferson in Albuquerque. PNM eventually plans to invest $265 million in proposed renewable energy projects, resulting in 80 megawatts of additional power generation, but the costs would be passed on to PNM customers starting in 2011. (Albuquerque Journal, 1-20-10, 1-25-10, and 1-26-10)
- Hazardous vapors were detected leaking from drums at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. No radioactive material has escaped. Carbon tetrachloride vapors have been detected, but concentrations have not attained a level that would affect health or safety.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-21-10)
- Verti-I-Go, a Texas wind energy company, plans to develop a wind farm and turbine manufacturing operation near Clovis. The operations would be located on a site at the city’s landfill.
(Albuquerque Journal, 1-26-10)
- GA Solar, a renewable energy company based in Spain, plans to construct a large solar array facility on 2,500 acres south of Santa Rosa. GA Solar intends to invest $1 billion in the project, which would employ 75 workers and generate 300 megawatts of power.
|
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.) |
| 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, 12:00 pm (noon), NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting in cooperation with the New Mexico Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Furr’s Fresh Buffet, 2004 Wyoming Blvd. NE. Dave Paoletta (current NM-ASSE President) will present “Argonne National Laboratory Building 310 D&D Rad Characterization Project, November - December 2009.” 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.
| March 2010 |
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 23, Alliance of Hazardous Materials Managers (AHMP) Regional Regulatory Review in Washington, DC. For more information, visit AHMP web site at www.netforumachmm.org.
March 26, 6:00 pm, NMSHMM Annual Dinner, Seasons, 2031 Mountain Road NW, in Old Town Albuquerque east of Rio Grande Blvd.
| April 2010 |
April 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 .
April 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 .
April 8-9, Alliance of Hazardous Materials Managers (AHMP) Leadership Conference in Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit AHMP web site at www.netforumachmm.org.
April 20, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
April 21, 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.
| May 2010 |
May 4, 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 .
May 13, 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 .
May 18, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at AMEC Earth and Environmental, 8519 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque. All members are welcome.
May 19, 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.
| September 2010 |
September 12-15, Alliance of Hazardous Materials Managers (AHMP) National Conference in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit AHMP web site at www.netforumachmm.org.
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)
Last Update: December 18, 2009
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!