Environmental Progress - Winter 2003

Environmental Progress : Winter 2003

Employees of the Month

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

Ryan Bennett was the EOM for October 2002. Ryan works for the Bureau of Land, in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) - Groundwater Assistance Unit. A key member of a technical team working on the BP Amoco site in Wood River, one of the first U.S.EPA RCRA Brownfield pilot projects in the nation, he oversaw efforts that developed corrective actions in an innovative and cost-effective manner. Portions of the site have been redeveloped in a way that ensures groundwater contamination under the site will continue to be remediated and contained.

Ryan is active in the Division of Land Pollution Control's web page redesign workgroup. He developed new guidance for RCRA groundwater technical issues to assist the regulated community understand and comply with a very complex regulatory process.

Brad Dilbaitis was the EOM for November 2002. He works for the Bureau of Air, Division of Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance, Compliance Assurance Section. Brad is responsible for responding to approximately 1,200 telephone calls each month from motorists who need to comply with vehicle emission test requirements. His understanding of the Illinois vehicle emission test law allows him to help motorists with all phases of the test process, needed compliance steps, and clearing up drivers license suspensions. His extensive knowledge of requirements in other states enables him to guide a motorist when the vehicle is out of state at the time it is scheduled to be tested.

Brad is especially adept at dealing with callers upset that their cars did not pass the test, who have received a notice of license suspension, or feel that they were treated unfairly at their test stations. In addition to answering telephone calls and incoming fax inquiries, he assists each month with the preparation of more than 50,000 VIM test notice post cards and Secretary of State test notices.

Carol L. Fuller was the EOM for December 2002. She works in the Office of Community Relations, where for the last year she has performed public outreach, education and communication activities on the high profile Downers Grove groundwater contamination project while maintaining a full workload and representing the Office on several improvement workgroups.

In the summer of 2001, volatile organic contamination was discovered in private wells in an unincorporated area adjacent to Downers Grove. Carol led multiple surveys in a neighborhood of 750 homes to gain sampling access; helped organize and participated in six separate sampling events; coordinated expedited reviews of all analytical results with the Illinois Department of Public Health and phoned dozens of residents to discuss health concerns and water use options. She organized and participated in a large-scale Public Availability Session in October 2001 and a follow up session in September 2002.

Carol produced four technical fact sheets to address questions raised by citizens and helped form the Unincorporated Downers Grove Citizens' Advisory Group (CAG) to seek technical, health-related and legal information on the environmental issues and concerns affecting their daily lives.