Home

In Memoriam

Han Maung, CHMM,

NEOCHMM president 2010

It was with great sadness that Venky Venkatesh informed us that Han Maung had passed away. I was fortunate to be able to attend the wake with Venky.

I wanted to share a little of how I knew Han Maung. We worked together the first time in about 1991, he was on the Morrison Knudsen (MK) project at Kodak. I was up on a few days fill-in assignment. Our paths crossed multiple times during the few days I was there. He was a man of few words but always a smile, nod and energy to get the job done. Fast forward a few years and I was on a different job site in CLE and Han had been transferred to CLE and he came out to do small tasks for us. We were next both on the NAVFAC project with Venky. He had great rapport with the base clients and contractual clients.

I left MK for the airport project and lost touch until I returned to MK (then Washington Group Int) in 2006. Han and I were on several project and traveled to Azerbaijan together. Again, he had great rapport with the clients. In the interim, Han had also worked on the Chernobyl project as well as other Former Soviet Union projects.

We stayed in touch because of NEOCHMM after I left WGI (at that point it was URS) until he retired. Many of us tried to persuade him to continue to attend meetings after retirement but he declined.

Erik, Han and Venky, EHS Social.

“The thing I remember most about Han is that I don’t recall ever seeing him unhappy or angry. He always seemed to have a smile on his face. He was good colleague and he will be missed.” Herb Mausser

EHS Social – we were still at the Power House -what year was this? Erik, Elise, Han, Marsha Kramer (MK/WGI)

han 003

AHMP conference 2006, Washington DC – (WGI person, Elise, Han).

Details: Written by Elise Allen; Created: 21 September 2018; Last Updated: 21 September 2018

September 2018 NEOCHMM Meeting

The Cuyahoga County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is a local organization mandated by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986 as well as Section 3750.03 of the Ohio Revised Code. The LEPC consists of 22 members representing diverse sectors such as Community Emergency Management, local Fire Departments, Department of Transportation, Greater Cleveland Red Cross, hospitals, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and local industries.

John O’Donnell, HazMat Coordinator for the Cuyahoga County LEPC, spoke to the NEOCHMM members about some of the committee’s functions in his presentation.

The LEPC tracks information from annual Tier 2 chemical inventory reporting submitted by over 800 sites within Cuyahoga County with more than 70 of those being Extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS) sites. John pointed out the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) chemical hazard information requirements that went into effect on January 1, 2018. The LEPC encourages facilities to utilize the free Tier 2 Submit software when submitting their annual inventory reports.
The LEPC records and tracks reportable releases – Since January 1, 2018, 30 spills were reported to the LEPC and 16 of those involved reportable quantities. John reminded the group of the 30 minute notification in the event of a reportable spill and written follow-up notice within 30 days that provides additional information about the incident.
The LEPC conducts proactive site visits at Extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS) facilities. This program was started in 2017 and site visits were conducted at 6 facilities in 4 cities. These visits gather additional site information and foster communication between the sites and the LEPC as well as providing items for consideration and best practices to the site.
The LEPC is available to participate in Facility Exercises that engage local responders in the emergency procedures at affected sites. Exercise materials and ready-to-use templates are in development and will be available for use by hazmat sites.

NEOCHMM thanks John O’Donnell for an interesting and informative presentation.

Details: Written by Kenneth Doyle; Created: 21 September 2018; Last Updated: 21 September 2018

AHMP’s 2018 National Meeting

The AHMP National Meeting was held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada from Sunday, August 26, through Wednesday, August 29, 2018. Over 320 people attended, including Mark Baumgardner, CHMM and Ray Davis, CHMM from NEOCHMM. Mark was NEOCHMM’s Chapter Delegate and is active on the AHMP Government Affairs Committee. Ray spearheaded the Tabletop portion of the Emergency Response Scenario and is active on the Professional Development Committee.

The General Sessions included speakers on California’s response to Wildfires and Reno’s Sustainability Program. Technical sessions focused on changes in the RCRA Regulations on EPA’s Generator Improvements Rule, on OSHA’s Global Harmonization of SDS, on updates to ISO 45001:2018 and on Brownfield Redevelopment. There were numerous networking events, vendor exhibits and social gatherings.

Mark Baumgardner also went on one of the technical tours, to the Tesla Giga Factory in nearby Sparks Nevada. This factory produces the batteries and drive trains for Tesla’s vehicles. It is highly automated and once fully built out, is designed to be energy neutral.

The Grand Sierra Resort provided a nice venue for the National Meeting. Attendees took advantage of the casino, many fine restaurants, pool, spa, stores and nice accommodations. Reports are that Mark left with his wallet intact, but had to use many of the exercise amenities, after attending numerous meetings and gatherings at many of the restaurants.

The 2019 AHMP National Meeting will be at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta and the 2020 AHMP National Meeting will be in Omaha, Nebraska.

Details: Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM; Created: 05 September 2018; Last Updated: 05 September 2018

Another Successful RiverSweep 2018--Thank You!

We just completed another successful (11^th consecutive) RiverSweep ! We planted about 18 Buckeye, Elm and assorted other trees on a lot owned by West Creek Conservancy, just south of the main branch of West Creek. This is just west of the Stewardship Center in the West Creek Reservation and off of West Ridgewood Drive in Parma.

We also did some extensive soil excavation and amendment around each root ball and some decent fencing around each tree, to increase survivability from deer. Herb’s blue bandana kept the rain and the deer away….none to be seen during the event ! (It did rain cats and dogs on my way back to Akron).

In doing so, we were able to eliminate a neighborhood squatters parking lot and pull the forest back towards Ridgewood Drive. We also provided an additional riparian buffer around West Creek.

Yes, we have made progress over the years! There was not even a mass clean-up by the high school volunteers this year. This is because The upper reaches of West Creek, where we extracted cart dams in the early years, has been deeded over to Cuyahoga County Metro Parks. The Park District is now responsible for maintenance.

Many thanks to all who helped in the 2018 event and in our past events!

Details: Written by Mark Baumgardner, CHMM; Created: 14 May 2018; Last Updated: 14 May 2018