Environmental Engineering Job Requirements May Include

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Environmental Engineering Job Requirements May
Include
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NYC Ground Zero

• After graduation I was hired by a environmental
  consulting/litigation laboratory with 5 locations
  nationwide, and a headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA.
  
• I was immediately sent to NYC to work on a
  building heavily damaged by the World Trade
  Towers collapse.

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Second tower collapse
One of the buildings I worked in was located
behind this plume
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The dust cloud engulfed all of lower Manhattan
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I got a lot of photos from Marines on-site in NYC
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New York was a hard place to work, and most all
the New Yorkers I encountered had broken spirits
and trusted no one (understandably).
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Here are a few photos of the interior damage to
the building I was working in
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Ground Zero photo of the hole remaining (this was
from 42 stories up in the air, the hole was 8
stories deep)
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Some co-workers
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Working conditions were pretty bad
Food rotting about a year after towers collapsed
No climate control in the building
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Rotting food is good enough for the NYC rats
That rat is laying on an 8 ½ by 11 inch piece of
paper. It was huge, and not the biggest one we
encountered either.
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We collected every type of sample imaginable.
Examples of a few
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WTC dust was very thick and contaminated with
PCBs, PNAs, Dioxins, asbestos, heavy metals such
as mercury and lead, etc.
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Moved from NYC

• Although NYC was exciting, I moved back to our
  headquarters in PA because most of the field work
  was complete (about 14 months after living in
  NYC).

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I began doing research for litigation work
I designed a human lung in-vitro device to
further study fiber clearing in human lungs.
Performing exposure tests (TWA and excursion) on
exposure to unpacking asbestos rope which was 90
chrysotile fiber (can still be purchased in
Canada).
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Studied a treatment for asbestos
I performed an extensive evaluation of a
proprietary asbestos treatment solution that
leaches the magnesium from an asbestos fiber,
leaving essentially a glass fiber that does not
stick in the lungs. I have a patent pending on
the application of the technology.
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Fibers before and after
Sharp ends break off on treated fibers
Before treatment (note sharp ends that stick in
the lungs)
Treated fibers are removed from the lungs with a
half life of only 2 days
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Additional Research
I have been one of the lead engineers on another
project involving using AMD sludge as a corrosion
inhibitor in concrete. We were currently granted
3 SBIRs on this and related processes. It is
also proprietary at the moment. Another project
I have been putting a lot of time on is a way to
convert used tires into carbon black and fuel.
For years people have been trying to figure out
this process, and one of our lead scientists has
found a way to do this effectively and we open
our second plant this year. Our first plant is
working really well, and this may be the
companies new big money-maker. Again, this
process is proprietary and I cannot provide
photos of the plant, sorry.
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Emergency Response Team

• I am a member of an emergency response team that
  has to be at the airport in 3 hours notice to fly
  anywhere in the US we are needed. I always have
  at least one bag of luggage packed in case there
  is a train derailment, chemical plant explosion,
  or anything that may be related to an
  environmental disaster (like hurricane Katrina
  and Rita).

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Emergency response
Chlorine gas tanker in Graniteville, S.C.
The worlds smallest helicopter (that was my
opinion at the time anyway). I was not a big fan
of these flights!
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Cl gas affects different metals in different
ways, and is highly corrosive for a brief period
along with being highly deadly.
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Part of my job was determine the percent
re-growth of the environment exposed to the Cl
gas (which is where the mini helicopter came in
handy).
Four months after the derailment, the local
wildlife came back surprisingly fast. I would
imagine that being in the climate of the South
helped the re-growth tremendously..
Right after train derailment
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New Orleans mold problems
A couple mild photos of the mold conditions in
New Orleans after Katrina. There are 270,000
homes in the South that will need to be
demolished, and there will be work there for
years to come.
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Conclusions

• There is a lot of work for environmental
  graduates, and the field is growing rapidly.
• You must be flexible, willing to work long hours
  sometimes (I had 96 hours one week).
• You will probably be thrown into a position of
  responsibility rather quickly because the field
  is relatively new.
• Just act like you know what you are doing, and
  your degree from Montana Tech will get you
  through the rest of it.
• Good luck and have fun now, after college its
  all work!