Marketing Specialist Dana Justice of SCS Engineers shares her favorite snack on Snacks with a Surprise while discussing Brownfields’ economic potential, the environmental impact, and the opportunity to serve communities through her support. Her work with SCS’s environmental consultants and engineers provides land remediation and Brownfields grants bringing properties with a past back to pristine condition. The redevelopment of these properties, typically with developed infrastructure already in place, provide jobs, housing, parks, and tax revenues for the surrounding community.
Learn more about the Urban Land Institutes’s Women’s Leadership Initiative or
more about Brownfield Remediation and Grants here.
SCS Engineers welcomes Tim Smith, P.E, to the firm’s environmental engineering practice. As the Alabama Project Director, he and his team provide engineering and consulting to public and private entities in the region from the newest SCS Engineers office in Mobile.
Smith brings over 20 years of expertise in civil and environmental engineering, with a recent emphasis on program and operations management. A Professional Engineer licensed in six states, he supports economic development through the design, construction, and implementation of environmental remediation systems and during the restoration of large-scale brownfield redevelopment of properties to pristine condition.
During his career, he also supported the US Navy Installation Restoration Program (IRP) and Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) and other industries that protect the public and the environment from the potential hazards associated with military or operations in the petroleum, aerospace, solid waste, and transportation industries. His work experience includes NPDES compliance and liquids treatment systems for effluents and processes for industrial plants and manufacturing facilities.
Previously, Smith managed environmental consulting activities for the I-10 Mobility Partners Design-Build Joint Venture (DBJV) tender for the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) a $2 billion project funded by a public-private partnership relieves traffic congestion and includes increasing vertical clearance assuring continued operations of Mobile’s maritime industry while raising the Bayway above the 100-year storm surge level.
The project is of economic and environmental importance; spanning an industrial area of Mobile and five rivers, including waters of the United States, wetlands, and threatened and endangered (T&E) species habitats. The environmental scope of work for the current bridge and Bayway alignment includes review and evaluation of 20 industrial sites with impacted soil and groundwater, review and evaluation of potential impacts to wetlands and T&E species, and identifying and mitigating risks associated with permitting and compliance for the project given the involvement of numerous State and Federal agencies.
“Tim’s expertise and regional knowledge enhance our ability to provide environmental services in Alabama that help support Mobile’s vibrant economy while protecting air, water, soil, and natural resources,” stated Carlo Lebron, Vice President of SCS Engineers’ Southeast region.
Last year Tom Barham, SCS Engineers’ General Counsel and Field Services Construction Director made headlines at SCS with his admission to the United States Supreme Court Bar. We are extremely proud of Tom!
This month Tom had the opportunity to have lunch with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as part of a fireside chat sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel. The discussion was led by Ted Olsen, a former Solicitor General of the United States who has argued 62 cases before the Supreme Court.
Justice Ginsburg was remarkably open and candid about her career and generous with her advice, including sharing advice from her mother in law on how to have a successful marriage, which she noted as “the best advice she ever received.”
As a pioneer in women’s rights and civil rights in America, Justice Ginsburg was involved in many important cases as an advocate and a judge. Asked about which cases stood out, she recalled a case challenging Virginia Military Institute’s (VMI) male only cadet policy. She noted that this was one case Mr. Olsen lost 7-1 and the one vote he got was from Justice Scalia who was already was on VMI’s side and needed no more advocacy to secure his opinion. (According to Mr. Olsen, RBG is known for her “wicked sense of humor”.) The case was memorable not for its legal precedent, but because of correspondence from the family of a female cadet. The female cadet’s father, a Marine and VMI graduate, wrote Justice Ginsburg to thank her for helping to create the opportunity for his daughter to attend VMI.
Subsequently, another letter from the daughter arrived with a Keydet pin which the daughter received upon graduation. The pin traditionally is given to the mother of the graduate, but since the cadet’s mother passed away before her graduation, the cadet sent it to Justice Ginsburg explaining that the Justice was like the grandmother to her and all future generations of female cadets. Justice Ginsburg keeps the letter and pin on her desk at the Supreme Court.
On how to have a successful marriage, Justice Ginsberg’s mother in law advised that it is best sometimes to be deaf to things you don’t want to hear, and handed her a pack of earplugs. Justice Ginsburg explained she has found that advice very helpful, choosing to be deaf to unpleasant things sometimes said.
“When you think about it, it was remarkable to have an opportunity to have lunch with a sitting Supreme Court Justice,” said Tom. “I even had an opportunity to ask for her advice on teaching fundamentals of the Constitution and our legal system to the international students in the class I teach in the University of Maryland Graduate School of Civil Engineering. Maybe I can get The Notorious RBG to guest lecture next semester?”
About Tom Barham
Mr. Barham is SCS Engineers General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Construction Services. He is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars, and holds a degree in building construction. He has over 30 years of experience in construction and construction law.
Mr. Barham provides SCS Field Services with expertise in construction management, including procurement, scheduling, budgeting, and estimating, as well as other contract formation and administration activities.
Mr. Barham has directed several full service (design/build) projects and has been involved in numerous projects such as Landfill Gas (LFG) collection systems (blower/flare stations, extraction wells, horizontal collection trenches, header lines, and condensate collecting/containment systems); groundwater pump and treat systems (stripping towers, recharge galleries, groundwater wells, deep recharge wells, collection/distribution piping, and pump stations); bio-treatment facilities (containment areas, moisture/nutrient application, and soil mixing); underground storage tanks (excavation, testing, triple rinse, and restoration); soil vapor extraction systems (cat/ox treatment facilities, vapor extraction wells, collection header lines, and air make-up wells).
