Since joining SCS in February 2023, Tim Buelow has quickly established himself as a highly respected and trusted advisor within the industry. Known for his thorough evaluation of complex scenarios and ability to consider multiple perspectives, Tim has successfully led unique projects for clients in Iowa. Clients value Tim’s technical expertise and rely on him to provide innovative solutions to their most pressing issues.
Internally, Tim is known for his humility and collaborative nature, always willing to share his knowledge and mentor colleagues with his client-first approach. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Tim has been promoted to Project Advisor, where he will continue to deliver exceptional service to clients at a high technical level.
Outside of work, Tim celebrates important milestones in his personal life, including 20 years of marriage to his wife Heidi and raising two sons. In his free time, Tim enjoys quality time with his family and sharing his passion for music by playing trumpet and euphonium alongside his sons at local churches.
We are thrilled to announce Bret Clements’s promotion to Project Director at SCS! Since 2008, Bret has showcased exceptional leadership, driving the success of key client projects and fostering growth within our engineering team. His dedication and hard work have been pivotal in completing numerous Renewable Natural Gas projects.
Bret is passionate about developing our staff in Overland Park and ensuring their professional growth. His business acumen and analytical skills are vital in addressing business challenges and driving continued success.
Congratulations, Bret, on your well-deserved promotion!
Kevin Jensen has been promoted to the role of Project Manager at SCS. Since joining our team in February 2023, Kevin has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication to our Iowa industrial clients. His commitment to delivering projects on time and within budget has earned him a reputation as a trusted advisor in compliance and engineering services. Kevin’s proactive approach to client advocacy and his ability to keep our internal team aligned with project goals have been instrumental in our continued success.
A native of north-central Iowa and a graduate of Iowa State University, Kevin brings a wealth of experience from his time at John Deere and ADM before transitioning to consulting in 2016. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys relaxing on his deck, listening to music with his fiancée, and tending to their lively menagerie of two dogs, ducks, and chickens.
Please join us in congratulating Kevin on his well-deserved promotion. We are excited to see where his leadership takes us in the future!
Please contact SCS Engineers if you are interested in working with our clients to make the world safer and cleaner!
SCS Engineers is working to complete a regional assessment of rare earth elements and other critical mineral (CM) opportunities within parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and the Osage Nation as part of a multi-state effort led by the Kansas Geological Survey (Critical Minerals in Coaly Strata of the Cherokee-Forest City Basin | netl.doe.gov).
This project is part of a multi-year Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM, FOA-0002364) initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to address all aspects of establishing a domestic critical mineral supply chain and the reuse of high-value, nonfuel, carbon-based resources. SCS Engineers is working with stakeholders within the Cherokee-Forest City Basin to develop assessments and strategies for waste stream reuse, infrastructural capacities and capabilities, technology development, outreach, and public-private partnerships.
The work from this project will identify information, technology, and infrastructure gaps that will need to be addressed to develop economic opportunities for critical mineral production, refining, and utilization specific to the Cherokee-Forest City Basin. These assessments may be utilized in future Phase II and Phase III components of the planned CORE-CM program for potential implementation within the region.
This study along with others have the potential to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals that are essential for electronics, renewable energy technologies, advanced manufacturing, and defense applications. It could also provide coal mines with additional markets for their product, transforming coal from something that is burned into a 21st century feedstock for advanced manufacturing.
Department of Energy Program Goals and Funding
Some research efforts are focused on unconventional and secondary feedstocks, such as coal and coal refuse, coal fly ash, acid mine drainage, mine waste, oil- and gas-produced waters, and brines extracted as part of carbon sequestration efforts. These feedstocks are known to contain elevated concentrations of CMMs, potentially in economic quantities, however their occurrence and distribution is not well constrained.
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced up to $60 million in funding to create regional teams to support the development of critical mineral and materials supply chains and novel high-value, nonfuel carbon-based products from unconventional and secondary feedstocks, such as coal and coal by-products, effluent waters from oil and natural gas development and production, and acid mine drainage. Realizing the critical mineral and materials potential in these feedstocks would enable the United States to rebuild a domestic supply chain for rare earth elements and other critical minerals and materials—which support high-tech manufacturing and the production of components for clean energy technologies—and reduce our dependence on international supply chains.
The funding period is now closed but projects selected under this funding opportunity will be announced in October and will continue the work of DOE’s CORE-CM Initiative, and expand the focus from the basin scale to a larger, regional scale. CORE-CM projects will develop and implement strategies that enable each specific basin to realize its full economic potential for producing REE, CM and high-value, nonfuel, carbon-based products from basin-contained resources.
Learn More Here:
Speak with our Author, Dr. Jon Yang, Senior Project Professional. Dr. Yang is a geochemist/engineer experienced in identifying and developing solutions to geochemical questions utilizing skillsets in experimental design, analytical chemistry, geochemical modelling, geological characterization, and engineering process design. He is also experienced in advancing research from early technology readiness levels along pathways for potential commercialization and/or technological transfer.
In March 2024, the EPA launched a new Office of Climate Adaptation and Sustainability that supports efforts to build resilience to climate change and promote sustainability in support of the agency’s mission and its partnerships. Federal agencies have been making progress in efforts to build adaptive capacity and resilience across federal operations.
Today’s publication of EPA’s 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan is part of a coordinated release of more than twenty federal agencies’ climate adaptation plans that highlight efforts across the federal government. The Plan describes agency actions to address the impacts of climate change and help build a more climate-resilient nation. The plan expands the agency’s efforts to ensure its programs, facilities, workforce, and operations are increasingly resilient to climate change impacts.
Highlights from EPA’s 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan are included below.
Fostering a Climate-Ready Workforce – The EPA is building a climate-literate workforce through ongoing education and training to ensure staff are equipped with an understanding of projected climate impacts, the vulnerability of EPA programs to these impacts, and adaptation approaches. One example is the agency-wide Climate Conversations webinar series helping to build a community of practice and encourages peer-to-peer sharing of experiences.
Building Facility Resilience – EPA is continuing to conduct facility resiliency assessments to identify vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change and make recommendations to increase facility resilience.
Developing Climate-Resilient Supply Chains – EPA has included an assessment of climate hazard risk as part of its overall Agency Supply Chain Risk Management plan. The agency plans to conduct supply chain risk assessments under the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act and the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act in fiscal year 2024.
Integrating Climate Resilience into External Funding Opportunities – EPA is modernizing its financial assistance programs to encourage investments by communities and Tribes that are more resilient in an era of climate change. To support this effort, the EPA launched an internal Climate-Resilient Investments Clearinghouse website to help managers of financial assistance programs incorporate climate adaptation and resilience considerations in the investment decisions the EPA makes each day.
Applying Climate Data and Tools to Decision Making – EPA is equipping communities and the recipients of financial resources with the tools, data, information, and technical support they need to assess their climate risks and develop the climate-resilience solutions most appropriate for them.
Integrating Climate Adaptation into Rulemaking Processes – EPA is integrating climate adaptation into its rulemaking processes where appropriate and in keeping with our statutory authorities to ensure they are effective even as the climate changes. For example, on March 14, 2024, EPA finalized a rule requiring a broad array of facilities that manage hazardous materials to develop response plans to prepare for the largest foreseeable discharges in adverse weather conditions, including more extreme weather conditions expected as the climate changes. EPA is also committed to applying climate change and environmental justice policy principles through National Environmental Policy Act reviews.
Additional Climate Adaption Resources:
SCS Engineers announces that Erik Martig is now the project director and organics leader in the Southwest region covering California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Martig’s expertise in compost systems design, operations, and management aligns with and supports SCS clients moving to organics management as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases and reuse organic material productively. His office is in Pleasanton, California.
As a Certified Compost Operations Manager, Martig has over a decade of experience producing results for public and private clients such as L.A. Compost, San Mateo County Resource Conservation District, The Heal Project Farm, and clients across the U.S.
SCS Engineers’ Organics Management teams help communities evaluate their waste streams and create custom programs using circular economy strategies that produce high-grade compost. Instead of treating organic material as waste filling up landfills, they produce a product good for the environment. These programs are launching all across the U.S. in small and large communities because they are effective and sustainable but require expansive knowledge and training.
Martig’s project management expertise includes developing project charters and teams that serve all stakeholders, custom design, environmental compliance, financing/funding from grant programs, and safety to create and sustain long-term programs. SCS provides pilot programs for entities wishing to test before they invest in the technology.
Among his professional accolades, Martig has presented at industry events such as the BioCycle West Coast Conference and the U.S. Composting Council to share insights with others. The Solid Waste Association of North America recognized him with its Unsung Heroes Award in 2015 for his work as Program Manager at GrowNYC, developing and increasing New York City’s network of residential food scrap drop-off sites.
Robert Lange, former director of the Bureau of Waste Prevention Reuse and Recycling at DSNY, stated,
Erik Martig has played a critical role in developing New York City’s network of residential food scrap drop-off sites. As Program Manager at GrowNYC, Martig significantly grew the number of drop-off opportunities at farmers’ markets throughout all five of NYC’s boroughs. Additionally, he developed a system for managing the organics collected through the drop-off program, which included providing a portion of the organics collected to community-based composting sites and thereby generating high-quality finished compost to be used by local public greening initiatives.
“Community-Scale Composting Systems,” A Comprehensive Practical Guide for Closing the Food System Loop and Solving Our Waste Crisis by James McSweeney highlights Martig’s urban composting programs as best practices.
“As the Southwest team lead for SCS Engineers’ composting programs, Martig brings a fresh perspective to our clients who expect high quality and technical expertise to advance their programs,” says Vice President Greg McCarron, SCS’s national expert on organics. “They’ll get that from Erik and his team.”
Composting and Organics Management Resources:
SCS Engineers is pleased to announce the addition of Mary Morkin-Garcia and William Haley to the SCS team. Morkin-Garcia joins as the new project director of Southwest groundwater monitoring programs, while Haley assumes the role of Project Director of the Southern California landfill engineering group. Both employees will report to Srividhya Viswanathan, vice president and leader of the landfill engineering practice for SCS’s Southwest business unit.
“Mary and William are stellar additions to our team, combining decades of experience in environmental remediation and landfill engineering. We look forward to the valuable contributions they will bring to our organization,” said Viswanathan.
Morkin-Garcia is a project manager and Professional Geologist with over two decades of experience in environmental remediation project management. Her Master of Science in Hydrogeology and extensive fieldwork contribute to her Project/Field Hydrogeologist expertise. Her experience includes managing multi-year projects in remedial design, building demolition, site remediation, and regulatory site closure. She oversees all aspects of these projects, including design, coordination of field activities and personnel, internal and external project cost and schedule control, reporting, risk management, and quality assurance in accordance with state and local standards.
Haley is a Professional Engineer with 13 years of experience and a Bachelor of Science from the Colorado School of Mines. Haley’s experience includes developing, managing, and leading project teams while providing landfill design and engineering services nationwide. These services include design, permitting, construction, regulatory compliance, and capital budgeting. Haley has successfully directed solid waste engineering projects for over 40 landfills and disposal sites in 13 states.
Find your environmental career at SCS and help businesses, communities, and our planet thrive.
Since its inception, the environmental movement has been a force to reckon with, uniting over 1 billion people annually on Earth Day and every day. Together, we have taken significant steps to protect our planet, and our collective efforts continue to make a difference.
Numerous Earth Day events are in the works to celebrate the day and the movement. This year’s theme is “Planet vs. Plastics,” and Earthday.org has some great suggestions for making a difference. Look for events in your area—we all make a difference when we make an effort today, this week, or as part of our careers.
Earth Day Events:
On April 10, the Federal Administration issued the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals.’ Exposure to PFAS has been linked to deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children. This final rule represents the most significant step to protect public health under EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap.
EPA is also making funding available to help ensure that all people have clean and safe water. In addition to today’s final rule, EPA is announcing nearly $1 billion in newly available funding to help states and territories implement PFAS testing and treatment at public water systems and to help owners of private wells address PFAS contamination. This is part of a $9 billion investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities with water impacted by PFAS and other emerging contaminants – the largest-ever investment in tackling PFAS pollution. An additional $12 billion is available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for general drinking water improvements, including addressing emerging contaminants like PFAS.
The enforceable drinking water PFAS regulations are finalized today and posted here. EPA PFAS regulations under the Safe Water Drinking Act page.
EPA finalized a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) establishing legally enforceable levels, called Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), for six PFAS in drinking water. PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA as contaminants with individual MCLs, and PFAS mixtures containing at least two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS using a Hazard Index MCL to account for the combined and co-occurring levels of these PFAS in drinking water. EPA also finalized health-based, non-enforceable Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) for these PFAS.
The final rule requires:
EPA estimates that between about 6% and 10% of the 66,000 public water systems subject to this rule may have to take action to reduce PFAS to meet these new standards. All public water systems have three years to complete their initial monitoring for these chemicals. They must inform the public of the level of PFAS measured in their drinking water. Where PFAS is found at levels that exceed these standards, systems must implement solutions to reduce PFAS in their drinking water within five years.
The new limits in this rule are achievable using a range of available technologies and approaches including granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and ion exchange systems. Drinking water systems will have flexibility to determine the best solution for their community and essential services that require wastewater treatment.
Additional Resources:
SCS Engineers, a leading environmental engineering firm, proudly announces the appointment of its new executive leadership team subsequent to its semiannual Board of Directors meeting, under the guidance of Chairman Jim Walsh and CEO Doug Doerr.
Curtis Jang assumes the role of President, leveraging his extensive 30-year tenure in financial management and organizational improvement. Mr. Jang, will spearhead strategies aligning with the overarching goals set forth by the CEO and Board.
CEO Doug Doerr affirms the significance of this leadership transition, stating, “To ensure our continued success and to position ourselves for future growth, I’ve entrusted several key individuals to assume new executive roles. As one of the country’s foremost environmental engineering firms experiencing remarkable growth, it is imperative that we equip ourselves for the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
In his capacity as President, Mr. Jang will collaborate closely with Doug Doerr and the newly appointed executive leadership team to steer SCS Engineers towards its envisioned future – prioritizing the welfare of its employee-owners, fostering a cohesive ‘One SCS’ ethos, and delivering unparalleled service to our valued clients.
Eddy Smith, assuming the role of Chief Operating Officer, will lead business strategies across various units and practices to foster enhanced collaboration company-wide, thereby enhancing value delivery to clients. With over three decades of experience in environmental and civil engineering design and consulting, Mr. Smith brings a wealth of expertise to his new role.
Chief Financial Officer Steve Liggins, leveraging his financial acumen and a notable career spanning over 17 years, will oversee finance and accounting functions, ensuring fiscal stewardship within the organization.
Stacey Dolden, entrusted with the role of Chief People Officer, will spearhead the company’s intensified focus on enhancing the employee experience. As a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources with 24 years of experience, Ms. Dolden is committed to nurturing a best-in-class workplace, with a particular emphasis on fostering effective career pathways for all employees.
Jay Hatho, SCS’ Chief Information and Chief Technology Officer, will lead the development and implementation of innovative technological solutions within SCS, as well as for our clients. With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Hatho is dedicated to ensuring SCS remains at the forefront of technological advancement, thereby enhancing client service delivery and fostering employee-owner collaboration.
Nathan Hamm, in his capacity as Senior Vice President, will focus on driving strategic initiatives aimed at expanding the company’s service platform and offering creative solutions to clients’ environmental and business challenges. With over 26 years of industry experience, Mr. Hamm brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise across various service sectors within the engineering consulting arena.
The appointment of this new executive leadership team underscores SCS Engineers’ unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and client satisfaction. With their collective expertise and vision, SCS Engineers is poised to embark on an exciting new chapter of growth and success.
About SCS Engineers: SCS Engineers is a renowned environmental engineering firm dedicated to providing innovative and sustainable solutions to complex environmental challenges. With a steadfast commitment to excellence and client satisfaction, SCS Engineers has emerged as a trusted industry leader, serving clients across various sectors with integrity, expertise, and unparalleled professionalism.
These young professionals, recognized in the environmental industry as rising stars, are making a difference. The 40-U-40 program introduces us to inspiring and innovative professionals under 40 who have made significant contributions through their work in waste, recycling, food waste, and organics. These environmental solutions provide proven and substantial positive impacts in lowering carbon footprints and helping us reach sustainable goals toward carbon neutrality.
Ketan Shah is a dedicated waste industry professional who focuses on technology solutions to lower environmental and health risks while looking to improve efficiency. Shah is an expert in landfill gas recovery modeling, refuse transfer station design, and life cycle assessment modeling. His contributions as a scholar and practitioner to environmental advancement are undeniable due to his published research and award-winning projects.
Dr. Shah’s impact on the waste management industry is ongoing, making him a great asset to SCS, its clients, and the community. Waste 360’s slideshow shows all the 2024 Awardees.
Cited Publications:
Thirty years ago this week, on February 11, 1994, then-President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice In Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations. The Executive Order marked the first government action on environmental justice and an important part of the environmental justice movement.
Executive Order 12898 directed government agencies (particularly the US Environmental Protection Agency or EPA) to develop plans and strategies to help address any disproportionally high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs on minority and low-income populations.
Redlining
Executive Order 12898 responded to changes that began during the Civil Rights Movement. Minority groups, particularly African Americans, began to object to discriminatory practices long entrenched in government policy. The most notable being the practice of “redlining.” In the 1930s, the United States worked to end the Great Depression. To encourage banks to lend money for mortgages, the federal government began insuring or underwriting housing loans; however, government inspectors designated African American and immigrant neighborhoods uninsurable, and the residents could not obtain loans. Landlords were not vested in maintaining their properties, and much of the housing became sub-standard. Inexpensive swaths of property inside city limits encouraged businesses and industry to purchase and develop this land, increasing pollution from traffic, industrial processes, and edging out small businesses.
Solid Waste Disposal
In 1979, Texas Southern University sociologist Robert D Bullard, Ph.D., studied solid waste disposal sites in Houston, Texas, for a class-action lawsuit seeking to prevent the siting of a new landfill near the Northwood Manner subdivision, a Black, middle-class neighborhood. Dr. Bullard’s work found that five out of five city-owned landfills and six of the eight city-owned incinerators were in Black neighborhoods. While the case was lost, it increased awareness of environmental issues in minority communities.
Hazardous Waste
In 1982, North Carolina sited a toxic waste landfill in Afton, a rural Black community in Warren County, to hold 40,000 cubic tons of polychlorinated biphenyls from illegally dumped contaminated soil along state roads and highways. For six weeks, residents and activists protested, marking what many consider the birth of the Environmental Justice Movement. The contaminated soil ultimately went into the landfill and eventually caused a release that cost the state $18 million to clean up.
In subsequent years, the movement began to attract the attention of public officials. In 1983, the US General Accounting Office Study released the location of Hazardous Waste Landfills. It took another seven years before the federal government began to consider policy change when, in 1990, the Environmental Equity Workgroup was formed to gather information and make recommendations to the government, leading to the creation of EO 12898.
Gaining Traction
Throughout the 2010s, the EPA published a series of plans and guidance documents, including the public release of EJScreen in 2014, the Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis, and the Environmental Justice Research Roadmap in 2016.
In 2022, EPA Administrator Michael Regan traveled to Warren County, North Carolina, to officially create the new Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. Several people involved in the 1982 PCB protests were in attendance.
Today’s Protections
State and federal environmental permitting now requires Environmental Justice (EJ) reviews. Fortunately, most, if not all, of the necessary EJ review data is publicly available online. For example, environmental professionals use EPA’s EJScreen regularly for EJ reviews, and many states have developed or are developing interactive data tools.
In the past decade, the US Census Bureau developed a searchable, interactive online database, and in 2021, the US Council of Environmental Quality released the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. Other online data sources include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, and individual state, county, and tribal organizations. These data not only allow us to meet permitting requirements and identify community challenges but also help guide outreach and facilitate communication with stakeholders.
On April 21, 2023, President Biden signed Executive Order 14096, Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, expanding upon the direction and intent of EO 12898. Thirty years on, we can see the effects of EO 12898 on incorporating environmental justice into environmental policy so that all people can have a healthier, safer, greener place to live, work, and play.
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