April 2007 - PUBLIC EDITION

• NMSHMM's Annual Banquet and the Start of a New Year!
• Committee News
  • Membership
  • Government Affairs and Local News Stories
• Upcoming Meetings and Events
• Monthly Meeting Location
• Job Openings
• NMSHMM Officers and Committee Chairs

NMSHMM's Annual Banquet and the Start of a New Year!
Richie Spangler, CHMM
Sandia National Laboratories

This year's annual banquet was held on Friday, March 16 at Garduños on the Green. We had 39 enthusiastic participants at this year's event, including a guest appearance by Kelly Kading of NMSHMM historical fame. Brian Salem opened the evening by summarizing NMSHMM's accomplishments over the past year and announcing the NMSHMM board election results. Congratulations to newly elected board members Brian Pence (president elect), Debbie Finfrock (changing positions from director at large to treasurer), Barry Birch (re-elected as director at large), and Eric Johnson (returning to the board this time as director at large). I would like to thank departing board members Kelly Bowles (previous treasurer) and Paul Karas (previous past-president [does that make sense to you?]) for the opportunity to work with them on the board over the past year. I also want to thank Brian Salem for his continuing support on the board of directors as the past-president and Mike Sanders, who is completing his term as secretary in 2007. I am looking forward to working as a part of the board of directors team to make 2007 a great NMSHMM year.

Once Brian was done, Paul Karas came up to the podium and presented the second annual NMSHMM Unsung Hero Award to Byron Kesner (in absentia). Byron has been a driving force for NMSHMM during its history and continues to support NMSHMM locally and nationally. Thank you Byron for all of your support throughout the years. I then stepped up and gave an overview of the NMSHMM Strategic Plan, the upcoming year's schedule and budget, and some proposed changes to the NMSHMM bylaws. All of these documents are posted on the NMSHMM website (www.nmshmm.org). Please spend a few minutes and see what NMSHMM is planning for the year to come.

Finally, we all reached the real reason to be at the NMSHMM annual banquet . . . . New Mexico Attorney General Gary King. Dr. King had just returned from meetings in Washington D.C. earlier in the week, where someone pointed out he is the first PhD organic chemist State Attorney General of all time. He proved the point by explaining the difference between a politician and a PhD chemist is in how they pronounce the word unionized (politician = union - ized vs. chemist = un - ionized). He went on to give a great presentation entitled The Role of the Attorney General and the Environment and explained the Attorney General has the sole statutory authority to settle a lawsuit for the state of New Mexico. I would like to thank Gary for spending his Friday night with us (especially since his Aggies were playing in the NCAA tournament that night) on behalf of NMSHMM and personally.

NMSHMM is going to be starting out 2007 with a bang as we host the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM) National Leadership Workshop at the Courtyard by Marriott, Journal Center from April 18 through 20. NMSHMM has drummed up (OK a bit of hazardous humor!) over $10,000 in sponsorships to help pay for this event, which is setting a very high bar for future hosting organizations to reach. The workshop is bringing national-level speaker talent to Albuquerque to provide information on a variety of topics of interest to environmental professionals. Please take a few minutes to look over the agenda at www.achmm.org and register for the workshop. The registration is free for ACHMM members in good standing and only $299 for non-members. Registration includes food throughout the workshop. Remember this workshop counts as 0.75 certification maintenance points (CMPs) for CHMMs and 1.2 continuing education units (CEUs) for many other professional certifications. This makes the Albuquerque workshop a continuing education bargain for environmental professionals in New Mexico, so please pass along the information to your colleagues who could benefit from the workshop.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for putting your trust in me to lead NMSHMM into its 10^th anniversary year (more about that in a future newsletter). If anyone has any questions about the upcoming year or would like to make suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me or any other member of the board. Take care and remember you have not really dealt with hazardous waste until you find that lost Easter egg from last year. Happy hunting!

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Committee News

Membership: Time to Renew Your Membership
Kelly Bowles, CHMM
Membership Committee Chair

NMSHMM's new year begin's on April 1^st, so if you haven't renewed your membership, now is the time to do it. CHMMs can still renew using the combined dues option through ACHMM. Many NMSHMM members have all ready renewed this year via the ACHMM combined dues option.

All NMSHMM members can renew through the NMSHMM website (www.nmshmm.org) by credit card or print out a renewal form and send it in with a check. All options are detailed on the NMSHMM web - just click on the membership link for more information.

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Government Affairs and Local News Stories
Compiled by Barry Birch, CHMM, and Eric Johnson, AICP, CHMM

• Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) conducted an inquiry on use of glove-boxes to handle plutonium after two employees were exposed to plutonium. The two employees were responding well to treatment, and the glove-boxes were being used again after the inquiry was completed (Santa Fe, New Mexican, 2-21-07).
   
• LANL and Department of Energy (DOE) agreed to pay a $50,095 fine to NMED for dumping potentially hazardous waste in the Los Alamos County landfill (Albuquerque Journal, 2-28-07).
   
• LANL is evaluating options for dealing with low-level radioactive waste in dozens of unlined pits and shafts at Area G. LANL officials say contamination from the pits does not pose an unacceptable risk to human health or groundwater because the pits are located on a dry mesa 900 feet above the regional aquifer (Albuquerque Journal and NMED press release, 3-1-07).
   
• NMED reached a $124,297 settlement with the National Aeronautics and Scientific Administration (NASA) regarding hazardous waste management practices at the NASA White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces. NMED identified the following violations during 2004-2005 inspections: recordkeeping, maintenance of covers over hazardous waste landfills, and exceeding maximum allowable waste volume discharged into a treatment unit (NMED press release, 3-1-07).
   
• NMED reached a $144,835 settlement with the U.S. Air Force regarding hazardous waste violations at Kirtland Air Force Base. NMED identified violations during 2004-2005 inspections including failure to properly characterize hazardous constituents in waste shipments, properly manage mercury containing lamps, remove combustible material from an open unit, and maintain personnel training records (NMED press release, 3-1-07).
   
• The New Mexico House and Senate passed and Governor Bill Richardson signed the Surface Owners Protection Bill that will provide protection for landowners who don't own the mineral rights below their property. Oil and gas producers will be required to reclaim surface lands affected by their operations. In addition, companies must notify landowner 30 days prior to initiating operations and propose an agreement for compensation for the use and damage to the land. (NMED press release, 3-5-07 and 3-8-07).
   
• NMED issued a 5-year ground water discharge permit to Louisiana Energy Services (LES) for their Nuclear Enrichment Facility under construction near Eunice. Included in the permit for the 550-acre property were a stormwater runoff pond, two ponds to receive water from a cooling tower and effluent, a domestic wastewater treatment system, and shallow and deep monitoring wells (NMED press release, 3-4-07). Workers moving into Eunice to work at the LES facility are expected to stimulate growth in Eunice with a need for 400 new houses, updated water lines, a new wastewater treatment plant, and construction workers (Santa Fe New Mexican, 3-13-07 and Albuquerque Tribune, 3-17-07).
   
• As part of President Bush's proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), a site near Roswell is being studied for a nuclear waste reprocessing center, and a site near Hobbs is being studied for an integrated spent fuel recycling facility (Associated Press, 3-4-07).
   
• Governor Bill Richardson signed two renewable energy laws. The Renewable Portfolio Standard law will require that 5% of New Mexico's electricity will come from renewable sources in 2006 and increase to 10% in 2011, 15% in 2015, and 20% in 2020. The Renewable Energy Transmission Authority law will allow New Mexico to export solar, wind, and other renewable energy (NMED press release, 3-5-07).
   
• CAST Specialty Transportation, of Colorado, won a potential 5-year extension of its contract to transport radioactive waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. If CAST retains the contract with options for five years, it could be worth up to $96.7 million (Albuquerque Journal 3-5-07).
   
• The Carlsbad City Council approved a $1.1 million economic development loan as part of an agreement with DOE for Cetane Energy to construct a $2.8 million biodiesel plant. The loan will come from the WIPP acceleration funds, which were established to help offset community impacts from the eventual closing of WIPP (Albuquerque Journal, 3-5-07).
   
• The Torrance County Commission will issue industrial revenue bonds to help purchase equipment and finance construction of a proposed biomass electric plant south of Estancia. Western Water and Power, the project proponent, will lease 50 acres from the State Land Office for the plant (Mountain View Telegraph, 3-15-07).
   
• Hundreds of buried car batteries at the former Sandia Manufacturing Company site in Bernalillo are being excavated and removed. NMED has determined that the batteries do not present a health risk to surrounding businesses or nearby residents (Albuquerque Journal, 3-12-07).
   
• The cost to clean up the former World War II bombing range near the Double Eagle II Airport is expected to reach $8.8 million according to David Henry, a geologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). To speed up the process, light detection and range imagery (LIDAR) is being employed where a laser from an airplane is used to obtain a highly detailed topographic image (Albuquerque Tribune, 3-20-07).
   
• Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety is requesting the installation of more reliable monitoring wells, independent review of LANL water data, and monthly water-well sampling. LANL responded that their quarterly tests are more than sufficient considering the rate of groundwater movement (Albuquerque Journal, 3-22-07).
   
• VP Construction is being investigated by NMED for dumping debris from Las Vegas's Rio De Gallinas public house subdivision into an arroyo near Gallegos Scrap Iron and Sales (Albuquerque Journal, 3-23-07).

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Upcoming Meetings & Events

April 3, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

April 10 (note date change), 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.

April 18-20, ACHMM Leadership Workshop in Albuquerque. For more information, go to ACHMM web site at www.achmm.org.

April 21, ACHMM Board Meeting in Albuquerque.

April 23-24, American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) 32^nd Annual Professional Development Conference, For more information contact Bob Roehm at (505) 938-2839 () or Dan Byrne at (505) 277-9795 ().

April 25, ASSE Trenching and Excavation Training. For more information contact Bob Roehm at (505) 938-2839 () or Dan Byrne at (505) 277-9795 ().

May 1, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

May 13-18, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. For information go to the web site: www.intelisef2007.org.

May 15, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.

May 16, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Boulevard NE, Albuquerque. Speaker to be announced.

May 17, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) monthly technical meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

June 5, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

June 19, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.

June 20, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Boulevard NE, Albuquerque. Speaker to be announced.

June 21, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) monthly technical meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

July 3, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) monthly meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

July 17, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.

July 18, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Boulevard NE, Albuquerque. Speaker to be announced.

July 19, 11:30 am, New Mexico Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) monthly technical meeting at Furr's Family Dining (6100 Central Avenue SE, southwest of San Pedro) in Albuquerque.

Did we miss something? To get your event added to the calendar please contact Eric Johnson at .

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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.

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Job Openings

For the latest job openings, please click here.  (MEMBERS ONLY)

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Please send contributions for future newsletters to Eric Johnson at . Thanks!

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