April 2006 - PUBLIC EDITION
April 2006 - PUBLIC EDITION
| PLEASE NOTE: Some newsletter content is only available to members in good standing of NMSHMM. |
| 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 |
A
New Year Has Started
Brian Salem, CHMM
New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Hazardous Waste Bureau
Fifty-One NMSHMM members attended our annual meeting at Garduños on the Green on Friday March 10, 2006. The venue was excellent and all enjoyed a good meal. Many thanks to Phil Newman, Director of Sandia National Laboratories' (SNL) Environmental Health and Safety Program who gave a presentation on the direction the program is going and asked us to come out for a visit. The new and current members of the Board were introduced. They included Paul Karas, Past-President; Richie Spangler, President-Elect; Mike Sanders, Secretary; Kelly Bowles, Treasurer; and Barry Birch and Debbie Finfrock, Directors-at-Large. I look forward to working with the newly elected NMSHMM Board and the members of the New Mexico Society of Hazardous Material Managers over the next year.
NMSHMM is pursuing opportunities to actively assist our community in ways that educate and prepare the community to respond to environmental issues. NMSHMM has agreed to donate $1,000 to the Albuquerque Citizen Corps Council (CCC). The CCC provides training for the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). These teams will respond in our community to assist their neighbors and first responders during a natural or man made emergency. The next class to be held starting on April 4, 2006 and, as of this writing, still has open spaces. If you are interested please contact Brian Fields with the City of Albuquerque at 833-7293. Very soon, there should be a link to the CERT program on the City of Albuquerque web site (www.cabq.gov). The Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Mangers (ACHMM) has made community outreach one of its goals for this year. To assist in our support of the CERT, we are soliciting matching support from them.
At our last lunch presentation, George Anastas, Past-President of the Health Physics Society, discussed the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse Program (HDER). The goal of the HDER program is to supply surplus federal radiological and other detection equipment to local first responders. The program works with local professional groups to supply training in the use of the equipment. We are exploring options to work with the program.
NMSHMM is working to develop, maintain and promote Strategic Partnerships and Alliances that support the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) certification. In order to broaden the credential, the Institute of Hazardous Materials Managers (IHMM), our credentialing organization, is developing a new credential called the Certified Hazardous Material Practitioner or CHMP. The CHMP will be available to non-degreed candidates with at least 10 years of relevant experience in hazardous materials management. This will allow individuals who have gained the knowledge of hazardous materials management through practical experience to be recognized and offered a credential. We will be soliciting local corporate sponsorships and memberships to make the CHMM Certification the standard of excellence within the hazardous materials management industry.
Lastly NMSHMM is always looking for good topics for a lunch presentation or field trip. If you know of any please contact the Board or me and we will be glad to schedule you in.
Committee News:
Legislative Affairs
Debbie Finfrock, PE
Committee Chair
Regulatory Update
The EPA has extended the deadline for facilities that store oil products to prepare, amend, and implement their
Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans to October 31, 2007 [40 CFR 112]. Comments on the
methods used to determine variances from primary drinking water standards for small drinking water systems based
upon affordable technology are requested by May 1 [40 CFR 142]. The State of New Mexico has revised its Public
Water System Supervision Program to incorporate the Long Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT1ESWTR)
and
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tentatively approved, pending requests for a public hearing on
the matter by April 17 [40 CFR 142]. If no hearing is requested, the program revision will be approved on that date.
See the State of New Mexico legislative bill site (www.legis.state.nm.us/lcs/) to determine which of the passed environmental bills were subsequently vetoed by the Governor.
NMSHMM Annual Dinner
 Philip Newman, Environmental, Safety, and Health Director for SNL, gave the keynote presentation at the NMSHMM Annual Dinner. |
 Larry Watson, long-time friend of NMSHMM, received the well-deserved Unsung Hero Award at the NMSHMM Annual Dinner. Thanks for all that you do for NMSHMM!! |
NMSHMM Supports Regional Science Fair
Paul Karas, CHMM, CPG, NMSHMM Past President
NMSHMM participation in the judging for the March 14 Northwest Regional Science and Engineering Fair was coordinated by Linda McCormick of the University of New Mexico Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs. Linda reports: "The Science Fair judging was fun and interesting as usual." NMSHMM's Senior Category prize went to an entry in the Environmental Science Division entitled "Will Phyto-Estrogens Affect the Development of Frogs?" The Junior Category prize will be awarded to a project in the Microbiology Division, "Bacterial Growth in Plastic Water Bottles." Both projects represent very relevant and current topics and demonstrate a vibrant interest among NM youth in environmental science. Hopefully we can schedule one or both of these young researchers to present their project to NMSHMM at a luncheon soon! More information will follow in upcoming newsletters. Thanks, Linda and others, for your volunteer efforts to encourage these students in their academic pursuits!
NMSHMM Helps Valle Vista Elementary
Eric Johnson, CHMM, AICP, Communications Chair
NMSHMM has adopted Albuquerque's Valle Vista Elementary School. We are working with the school's Community Action Team. So far this year, NMSHMM has donated $75 to help purchase T-shirts for community volunteers, helped set up a compost pit at the school's garden, and participated in the Donuts for Dads breakfast to encourage parent participation school activities. Thanks to Barry Birch, NMED plans to work with the school and provide technical assistance preparing additional compost. Andrea Herrera, the school's community liaison, thanks NMSHMM for the support. The school has received little community assistance in the past.
Local News Stories
Society luncheon meetings are held at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Blvd. NE, at 11:30 on the third Wednesday of the month (except Mar. and Dec.)
| APRIL 2006 |
April 4, 11:30 am, Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) New Mexico Chapter meeting, Furr's Cafeteria, 6100 Central SE, Albuquerque. Phil Newman, Environment, Safety, & Health and Emergency Management Director at SNL, will present: "Environmental Management and Waste Minimization." AWMA meetings are normally held the first Tuesday of each month and include a technical presentation and chapter news update.
April 18, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.
April 19, 11:30 am, NMSHMM General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Blvd. NE. Richie Spangler, CHMM, SNL Hazardous Waste Manager and NMSHMM President-Elect, will give a presentation on EPA's Columbia Shuttle Disaster Recovery Efforts: A Personal View from the Field.
April 21, 8:30 am, Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) Exam, University of New Mexico Science and Technology Park, Park Center Building, 851 University Boulevard SE, Room 201. For information contact Larry Watson at (505) 277-5488.
April 23-26, National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) national conference in Albuquerque. For information visit the web site: www.naep.org.
| MAY 2006 |
May 2, 11:30 am, Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) New Mexico Chapter meeting, Furr's Cafeteria, 6100 Central SE, Albuquerque. AWMA meetings are normally held the first Tuesday of each month and include a technical presentation and chapter news update.
May 16, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.
May 17, 11:30 am, NMSHMM General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Blvd. NE. Kelly Kading, CHMM, of HDR, will give a presentation on the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM) recent National Overview Course in India.
| JUNE 2006 |
June 12-15 Managing Waste in the Wide Open Spaces, a Regional Joint Conference in Albuquerque, hosted by the New Mexico Chapters of the National Recycling Coalition, Solid Waste Association of North America, and NMED Solid Waste Bureau. For information visit the web site: www.recyclenewmexico.com or www.nmswana.com.
June 20, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.
June 21, 11:30 am, NMSHMM General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Blvd. NE. Brian Fields will give a presentation on Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT).
Did we miss something?? To get your event added to the calendar please contact Eric Johnson at .
| Society business meetings are held at CDM's offices, 6000 Uptown NE, Suite 200, at 6:00 on the third Tuesday of the month (except Mar. and Dec.) |
Monthly Meeting Location
Our regular monthly meetings are held at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill (6601 Uptown Boulevard Northeast; 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).
Please send contributions for future newsletters to Eric Johnson at . Thanks!