Environmental Progress - Summer/Fall 2002

Environmental Progress : Summer/Fall 2002

Employees of the Month

Editor's Note: Each month the Illinois EPA recognizes outstanding employees for making quality part of every job they do. Seven recent honorees are listed below.

Christa Patterson, EOM for March 2002, works for the Division of Laboratories, Metals Unit, at the Champaign Inorganic Laboratory. Her quick grasp of complicated methods and regulations, and ability to learn new instruments quickly, enabled her to take over a complex multi-element spectrometer with minimal training to handle CRA samples and produce high-quality data on short notice. These attributes helped avoid a sample bottleneck in an unanticipated employee shortage. Christa is a key resource for questions about sample preparation.

Joseph Dombrowski was the EOM for April 2002. Joe works for the Bureau of Land, Remedial Projects Management Section, State Site Remediation Unit. He coordinated one of the largest investigations of groundwater contamination in private wells ever conducted by the IEPA, involving sampling more than 500 private wells in the Downers Grove area. Joe's comprehensive notes and precise dissemination of information kept the Director, IEPA and Illinois Department of Pubic Health staff current with events in this high profile project. Joe coordinated laboratory scheduling for the Division of Remediation Management, from ordering sample bottles, to distribution of finished analytical data. His reviews of old files and microfiches support cost recovery claims in the Agency's cost recovery program.

Kenneth Keigley, EOM for May 2002, is a field inspector for the Bureau of Land, Field Operations Section, at the Champaign Regional Office, working in the used tire, solid waste and hazardous waste programs. His work has involved two foundries that sent hazardous waste to three different landfills, an unpermitted waste transfer station whose operator claimed to be recycling, and a chronic open dump that had existed for at least 15 years despite several efforts to close it. He was involved in tire removals at two large tire disposal sites in the Champaign Region including one with approximately one million used tires.

Michelle Ryan was EOM for June 2002. Michelle works for the Division of Legal Counsel and was involved with the Lockformer Company enforcement case. She managed documents and information related to groundwater problems in the Lisle area around the facility, assisted in preparing for pre-trial litigation, and provided briefing for management on various aspects of the case that were pending at the same time, as well as responses to the concerns of many impacted citizens.

Joyce Gibbons was the EOM for July 2002. Joyce works for the Bureau of Land in the Rockford Regional Office, where she took over as Acting Regional Manager after the previous manager retired in December 2001. She dealt with difficult enforcement projects and procedural issues, actively tackled some complex used tire and solid waste cases and provided essential clarification to regional staff on procedural issues associated with enforcement cases. Her performance made the transition to a new manager much easier. Joyce participated in facilitator training and has led several Total Quality Management projects in the regional office.

William W. Richards, Jr. was the EOM for August 2002. Bill works for the Bureau of Land, Office of Planning and Reporting, LUST Claims Unit. Shortly after joining the Agency, Bill computerized all of the unit's Title 35, Part 731 program data forms, and also computerized new forms for the program that automatically transfers all necessary information from one page to the next, improvements that decrease the time involved in recording pertinent data and the amount of paper used. Bill serves on a work group setting up reasonable rates for LUST cleanups, used by both the LUST Section and the LUST Claims Unit. He recently developed a form to track claims from the time they are received until the final decision letter is mailed out. Bill's computer skills enabled him to transfer over 1400 LUST cleanup budgets from the old format to the new system.

Warren F. Weritz, Bureau of Air, Air Monitoring Section, was the EOM for September, 2002. Warren works for the Northern Region air monitoring unit in the Des Plaines Regional Office. His accomplishments include outreach efforts to vendors and other users of a particulate air monitoring sampling system to gain better understanding of the system to improve maintenance and reduce repairs, leading to increased capture of monitoring data and to a general improvement in the operating condition of all units of this system in northern Illinois. Warren's ability to troubleshoot in these cases has made a vast improvement in 2.5 particulate operations in his region's operation, since repairs can now be made on the site without the necessity of removing the malfunctioning sampler from its roof installation and sending it to Springfield for repair. Wear and tear on equipment has been reduced and operational efficiency has increased as a result. This effort was a task for which he volunteered and has been performed in addition to his normal daily work load.