May 2007 - PUBLIC EDITION

• NMSHMM's Strategic Plan Kicks into Gear
• Committee News
  • Membership Renewal Options
  • Government Affairs and Local News Stories
  • Programs/Special Events: Photographs from the ACHMM Leadership Workshop in Albuquerque
• Upcoming Meetings and Events
• Monthly Meeting Location
• Job Openings
• NMSHMM Officers and Committee Chairs

NMSHMM's Strategic Plan Kicks into Gear
Richie Spangler, CHMM
Sandia National Laboratories

April brought with it the first major milestone in the NMSHMM Strategic Plan for this fiscal year . . . the ACHMM National Leadership Workshop. The workshop was held at the Courtyard by Marriott Journal Center from Wednesday, April 18 through Friday, April 20 with about 70 people registering from across the nation, including 21 from New Mexico.

The workshop opened with a full day tour at Sandia National Laboratories. The site visit included an insider's tour of the Cooperative Monitoring Center at the International Programs Building in Research Park, the Microelectronics and Semiconductor Applications (MESA) facility, the National Solar Research Center (aka the Solar Tower), and finally the inner workings of the famous Z-machine. If you are interested in finding out more about what you missed, you can go to the www.snl.gov website and find information on all of these facilities. I want to thank each of our insider tour guides and in particular Ron Jones, Quatro Baker, and Rick Saiz, who are all CHMMs working at the MESA facility.

All of the speakers had great information and presented it in an interactive way (I never knew you could learn so much about leadership from a coffee filter filled with peanuts). We were fortunate to have a couple of talented local speakers who were in the mix as well. If anyone out there needs help with board of directors' leadership, we had a fantastic presentation by Jean Block, who is based in Albuquerque. We were also treated to a funny and insightful perspective on human error by Todd Conklin, from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), who I plan to engage to see if he would be willing to present at one of our lunch meetings.

The good news for those of you who were unable to make it to the workshop is that the ACHMM will be posting all of the presentations from the workshop on the web, so you can review what was presented at www.achmm.org.

As I mentioned last month, NMSHMM was able to secure over $10,000 in sponsorships for the workshop and I would like to recognize and thank the local sponsors who supported our efforts:

• Sandia National Laboratories as the signature sponsor;
• NMSHMM as the welcome mixer sponsor at the National Atomic Museum;
• LEA Environmental, LLC. (Lucy Archamboult) as a lunch sponsor;
• Emcore as the lanyard sponsor;
• CDM as a breakfast sponsor;
• GE Aircraft Engines as a break sponsor;
• Gram, Inc. as a break sponsor; and
• Finfrock Engineering (Debbie Finfrock) as a break sponsor.

I would like to thank Rich Cartwright for his generous sponsorship of the Isotopes games for CHMMs on the Monday and Tuesday following the workshop. Unfortunately, I had a conflict and could not go, but I hope some of you were able to enjoy Rich's generous offer.

My experiences at this year's ACHMM National Leadership Workshop allow me to heartily recommend the workshop to all NMSHMM members for future consideration. As it turns out, NMSHMM will have a hand in next year's workshop, because I will be serving as co-chair for the workshop under the Professional Development Committee. We are already hard at work with the new request for proposal and getting the speakers scheduled.

NMSHMM also helped to meet its goal of working with sister organizations in New Mexico as stated in the Strategic Plan by supporting the local American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) chapter in putting on its professional development workshop. The ASSE added an environmental track this year and contacted NMSHMM to provide a speaker. I was fortunate enough to go and talk about safe waste management practices on behalf of NMSHMM. I noticed several NMSHMM members at the workshop and hope they found the presentation informative.

Last but not least, I hope to see you at this month's lunch meeting, where we will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of NMSHMM, which officially occurs on May 19, 2007. As always, if anyone would like to present at a lunch meeting (you get extra CHMM recertification points for doing it), please let one of the board members know. In the mean time, enjoy your Memorial Day holiday later this month and be careful while getting your swamp coolers turned back on . . . four trips to the hardware store later . . .

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Committee News

Membership Renewal Options
Debbie Finfrock, PE, CHMM
Membership Committee Chair

Spring is Time to RENEW Your Membership!

Please renew your NMSHMM membership using any of the following ways:

• Renew on the ACHMM web site (www.achmm.org) using the "Shopping Cart - membership" option for combined ACHMM and NMSHMM dues.
• Renew on the NMSHMM web site (www.nmshmm.org) using the "Membership" link and the Secure On-Line Form with Mastercard or Visa - there is now an option to print your receipt!
• Download the membership brochure or use the green card sent with the newsletter last month to submit your information and send a $30 check to NMSHMM.

Please remember to keep your information updated if you move or change jobs or email addresses. Apologies to those who already paid but received a green slip with your hard-copy newsletter in April - our database convergence was not yet up to speed.

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

• A partnership agreement was signed in March between NMED's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau and the American Subcontractors Association of New Mexico (ASA-NM). This partnership will allow employers to address health and safety issues before they become regulatory problems (NMED Press Release, 3-29-07).
   
• NMED approved an emergency plan to allow Curry County and the City of Clovis to dispose of debris from the March 23^rd tornadoes. Both the county and city were allowed to dispose of waste, including asbestos containing debris, in an identified section of the Clovis landfill for a 30-day period (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-4-07).
   
• Ron Curry, New Mexico Environment Secretary, proposed new rules to require improved monitoring of drinking water at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Under the rules, LANL will be required to drill additional wells and monitor groundwater contaminants (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-4-07).
   
• An NMED hearing officer recommended issuing an air quality permit for a proposed ethanol plant west of Clovis. The ethanol plant would produce 108 million gallons of ethanol annually. NMED is requesting an annual report on operations and emissions from the plant (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-8-07). Concerned Citizens for Curry County later sent a letter to Ron Curry and stated that the early public notices for the plant did not correctly locate the project site and failed to properly notify property owners living within 1/2 mile of the project site. Ron Curry will decide whether to issue an air permit for the plant by May 23^rd (Albuquerque Journal, 4-21-07).
   
• New Mexico residents expressed their concerns about a proposed nuclear fuel reprocessing facility near Roswell during an April public meeting at the Roswell Convention Center. As part of President Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, the proposed facility would reprocess spent fuel that is currently stored at more than 100 nuclear reactor sites in 39 states. Although U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and several LANL current and retired scientists support the project, several local residents expressed concerns about potential health effects of the project (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-15-07).
   
• Sue Stiger, who worked previously for Bechtel at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, will become associate director for LANL environmental programs. She will be responsible for overseeing the clean-up of approximately 700 contaminated sites and complying with a 2015 NMED deadline to complete the clean-up (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-20-07).
   
• New Mexico's Oil Conservation Division fined Mobile Pipeline Company $22,000 for inaccurate reporting of a crude oil spill near Lovington. Mobile spokesman Brian Dunphy said the company will meet its clean-up responsibilities, but Mobile disagrees that it misrepresented the volume of the spill (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-20-07).
   
• The new energy efficient light bulbs contain small quantities of mercury, which require special disposal methods. As a temporary solution to the light bulb disposal problem in Albuquerque, city residents can call 311, and a representative from the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department will come to their home and collect the light bulbs for disposal. Albuquerque residents can also take the light bulbs and other household hazardous waste to Rinchem, at 6133 Edith NE. Elsewhere in New Mexico, the light bulbs can be disposed of through local household hazardous waste programs. The City of Rio Rancho holds periodic household hazardous waste pick-ups. Santa Fe conducts scheduled hazardous waste drop-off days, and Las Cruces accepts household hazardous waste at its recycling center (Albuquerque Journal, 4-25-07).
   
• Sanostee Chapter residents voiced their opposition to the proposed Sithe Global $3 billion coal-fired power plant that is proposed to be constructed about 12 miles east of the town of Sanostee. The Sanostee Chapter requested a comprehensive health study of residents living within 60 miles of the proposed power plant (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4-24-07).

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Programs/Special Events: Photographs from the ACHMM Leadership Workshop in Albuquerque

Dr. "D" (a veteran of the Manhattan Project) gives mixer participants a tour of the National Atomic Museum.
ACHMM Director Rich Cartwright demonstrates portal technology at Sandia National Laboratory.	ACHMM Executive Director Cedric Calhoun and ACHMM Treasurer Scott Butterfield pose by the Fat Man at the National Atomic Museum.
Paul Karas presents Byron Kesner with his NMSHMM Unsung Hero Award.	Sandia National Laboratories - Environmental Safety and Health Director Phil Newman greets the ACHMM National Leadership Workshop.

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Upcoming Meetings & Events

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. Chuck Hawkins, University of New Mexico Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will discuss Engineers without Borders.

May 13-18, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. For information go to the web site: www.intelisef2007.org. Environmental judges for May 16 are urgently needed.

May 15, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at Richie Spangler's house. E-mail  for more information.

May 16, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Boulevard NE, Albuquerque. Michael Mariano, of the NMED Groundwater Bureau - Voluntary Remediation Program, will discuss Voluntary Remediation Program activities at the Sandia Battery site in Bernalillo and the Peru Hill Mill site in Deming.

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. Cliff Ho, of Sandia National Laboratories, will discuss the Mixed Waste Landfill.

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. Note a field trip may be scheduled instead of the general meeting. Stay tuned.

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.

August 7, 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.

August 12-15, ACHMM National Conference in Washington, D.C. area at Crystal City Virginia. See ACHMM web site for more information.

August 16, 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.

August 21, 5:30 pm, NMSHMM Board Meeting at CDM offices, 6000 Uptown Blvd. NE, Suite 200. All members are welcome.

August 22, 11:30 am, NMSHMM Luncheon/General Meeting at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill, 6601 Uptown Boulevard NE, Albuquerque. Speaker to be announced. Note a field trip may be scheduled instead of the general meeting. Stay tuned.

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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