Debra Walker Joins Battelle

Battelle is pleased to announce the addition of Debra Walker, Program Manager, to its Coastal Resource and Environmental Management and Safety (CREMS) group. Ms. Walker is a Registered Environmental Manager with over 26 years of experience in environmental management, NEPA compliance, and public outreach for civil works, military, facilities planning, and transportation projects. Ms. Walker has managed large multidisciplinary programs and projects involving environmental assessments, environmental compliance, environmental and cultural resource analysis, hazardous waste, and socioeconomic studies. As Program Manager for Battelle, Ms. Walker will apply her NEPA experience to lead teams of environmental assessment specialists around the country. She will be overseeing projects based out of Battelle’s Baltimore, Maryland, office.

During her career, Ms. Walker has facilitated strong working relationships with clients to implement multi-million dollar environmental programs. Additionally, she has contributed to numerous environmental impact assessments, environmental assessments, and other federal, state, and local environmental clearance documents. Ms. Walker received her bachelor of science in biology from the University of Tampa. For additional information, please contact Ms. Walker at (410) 827-3001, walkerd@battelle.org.

Brian Leis and Tom Bubenik were among 17 individuals recently recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Pipeline Research Committee International (PRCI) at its 50-year anniversary celebration. The awards highlight major contributions to the success of PRCI, which was organized in 1952 to address the problem of long-running brittle fractures in natural gas transmission pipelines. The accomplishments are considered major contributions to the pipeline industry leading to a safe, reliable, and environmentally compatible transportation system. Dr. Leis was recognized for his contributions to pipeline integrity management involving criteria for corrosion defect evaluation, assessment of crack-like defects, real-time monitoring, developments related to fracture arrest technology, and control of stress-corrosion cracking. Dr. Bubenik’s contributions to integrity management in the form of in-line inspection sensors and data analysis procedures were also identified.

For more information, contact Dr. Leis at (614) 424-4421, leis@battelle.org or Dr. Bubenik at (614) 424-5331, bubenikt@battelle.org.

Around 1,500 leading environmental professionals from 36 countries gathered in Monterey, California May 20-23 for the Third International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds. Sponsored, organized, and conducted by Battelle, this is the world&#0146s premier conference on environmental remediation issues and attracts environmental scientists, engineers, regulators, top government officials, and industry leaders involved in guiding environmental policy. The scenic Monterey fishing village, made famous by the writer John Steinbeck, was an excellent setting for this important scientific event.

The keynote speaker, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., drew upon a family tradition of political and environmental involvement, to deliver a stirring commentary on environmental trends. A strong technical program of more than 570 presentations and panel discussions followed the keynote/plenary session. Arun Gavaskar and Abraham Chen from Battelle’s Environmental Restoration Department in Columbus, Ohio, co-chaired the conference. Carol Young, the Conference Administrator, has played a key role in ensuring the success of this and several of Battelle’s conferences.

Arun Gavaskar notes that: “This conference presented a unique opportunity for Battelle staff to develop and showcase our technical capabilities, and to discuss future business opportunities with key decision makers in government and industry, from the U.S. and abroad. The challenge every two years is to keep the interest alive and attract the best names in the industry through constant changes in the conference program and the technical topic areas covered.” Gavaskar says that the challenge forces Battelle staff to keep close to leading players in the environmental business and stay abreast of changes in the marketplace.

Planning is already underway for the Fourth International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, scheduled for Monterey in May 2004.

For more information, please call The Conference Group at (800) 783-6338 or send an email to Chlorcon@battelle.org. Information on this and other Battelle environmental remediation conferences can be found at www.battelle.org/conferences.

Battelle Awarded Contracts for Saudi Arabian Projects

Two major new contracts have been awarded to Battelle’s Coastal Resource and Environmental Management and Safety Organization (CREMS) by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) in Saudi Arabia. PME is being funded by the United Nations Claims Commission (UNCC) to develop claims for environmental damages related to the 1991 Gulf War oil spills.

Battelle is at the center of an extremely large, complex, and fast-paced environmental assessment effort. Work will involve three major activities over the next 12 months: managing all analytical chemistry activities in the Kingdom involving processing of samples, analyses, and management of data; conducting approximately 5000 specialty analyses for PAHs in our Duxbury, Geneva, and Columbus laboratories; and supporting field collection efforts and helping to analyze and interpret all data so that the Saudis may file scientifically defensible claims for environmental damage and restoration. Dr. Gregg Douglas, Dr. Paul Boehm, Dr. Augusto Porta, and Mr. Kevin McCarthy are leading this highly visible and expanding project.

For additional information, contact Gregg Douglas at (781) 952-5393, douglasg@battelle.org.