Since its inception in 2000, WET has grown from a highly specialized group of groundwater professionals into a full-service environmental and engineering consulting firm with office locations in Butte, Anaconda, Bozeman, Great Falls, and Kalispell, Montana and Sheridan, Wyoming.
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Meet Erik Ingman, WET Project Engineer!
What do you do at WET (title and short/high level/laymen job description)?
I’m a Project Engineer for WET. I manage and design projects. This includes modeling and designing water mains, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, and site development; preparing project specifications and bid packages; and providing construction oversite and testing. I help on our permitting team when I can. I also survey from time to time.
How long have you been in the industry? How long with WET?
I have been in the consulting field for 3 years, 2 for WET. Before consulting I was a mining engineer at a strip coal mine for 3.5 years.
What is the most satisfying part of your job?
Most satisfying part of my job is working with the awesome team at WET to deliver projects just the way our Clients envision.
What do you do in your spare time (hobbies, sports, volunteering, family events, etc)?
When I’m not killing it in the office, I enjoy running, fishing, hunting, hiking, spending time with my family, and playing sports. Whenever I find a day to be at home, you bet I’ll be throwing some meat on the smoker.
What is an interesting/obscure fact about yourself?
I have a twin sister who is 26 minutes older than me.
It’s National STEM Day (November 8, 2018)
Happy National STEM Day!
In honor of National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Day, we asked some of our interns and full-time employees pursuing higher education at Montana Tech in STEM what they enjoy most about STEM and what advice they have for those who are considering STEM programs.
Here’s what they had to say:
To learn more about National STEM Day, check out this Huffington Post article.
October is Employee Ownership Month
Putting the WE in WET—What Employee-Ownership Means to Us As we celebrate Employee Ownership Month, we reflect on what it means to be an employee-owner and work for a company that is 100% employee-owned. Casselbury (2018) states, “An employee-owned company plan is more commonly referred to as an ‘employee stock […]
Meet Forrest Jay, WET Senior Engineer!
What do you do at WET?
Senior Engineer responsible for development (residential and commercial) and utility projects (water, sewer, storm water, sitework, etc)
How long have you been in the industry? How long with WET?
I have been an engineer for 15 years, this is my 7th year at WET.
What is the most satisfying part of your job?
I like the challenge and variety of projects I get to work on with WET. I have been very fortunate to work with great clients and colleagues at WET.
What do you do in your spare time?
I serve as Vice President of the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited and have been on the board for 5+ years. I am a licensed MT fishing guide and am guiding many of the weekends during the peak fishing season. When I am not working, I enjoy spending my spare time fishing with my lovely wife, Angela, and our four-legged children (Drake and Cooper). When I can’t be on the water, I spend my spare time tying flies and designing flies for CATCH Fly Fishing.
What is an interesting/obscure fact about yourself?
I used to be a pretty darn good trumpet player. Other than that, I am not really that interesting.
Meet Marcus Holland, WET Intern!
How long have you been in the industry? How long with WET?
What is the most satisfying part of your job?
What do you do in your spare time?
What is an interesting/obscure fact about yourself?
Meet Shari Kelley, WET Administrative Assistant!
How long have you been in the industry? How long with WET?
What is the most satisfying part of your job?
What do you do in your spare time?
What is an interesting/obscure fact about yourself?
New Year, New Permit—Explore Requirements of the New 2018 MPDES CGP
January 1, 2018 was not only New Year’s Day, but day one of the new Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) Construction General Permit, referred to as the CGP.
When is a CGP needed?
If both of the following two criteria are met:
1. There are areas of ground disturbance or other potential pollutant sources due to the construction activity where a storm water discharge to state surface water can occur.
2. The construction activity has a total area of ground disturbance through clearing, excavating, grading, or placement/removal of earth material which is equal to or greater than one acre
This new CGP is a big deal because there are some changes in both the paperwork and procedures.
PERMIT HIGHLIGHTS
-The form Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is shorter, 10 pages versus 19 pages.
-Checklists are used to identify ‘potential pollutants’, ‘BMPs’, ‘major construction activity’, and ‘BMP phasing.’
-There are three choices on how to revise the SWPPP (revise SWPPP and site maps, use inspection reports and revise site maps, and updates in a log and revise site maps.
-Inspections can be delayed if severe winter conditions occur.
-Public signage is required beginning in 2021.
WHAT does the new CGP mean for construction projects that were started last year but not ready to be closed?
You need to submit a renewal. A renewal consists of an NOI and SWPPP. Additional fees are not needed AT THIS TIME.
WHO provides that service?
WET will gladly prepare renewal packages. We have an interview form with all the required site information identified.
WHY can’t I take care of the renewal myself?
You can if you are a certified SWPPP Administrator and your certification is current.
WHERE can I get recertified?
WET will gladly help (are you sensing a pattern here?) WET is one of the ‘acknowledged training provider by the state of Montana’. That means we provided a curriculum to the state, which was reviewed and approved for:
-BMP 201 SWPPP Preparer and Administrator Certification Program and
-BMP 201-R SWPPP Preparer and Administrator Recertification Program.
WHEN are trainings scheduled?
Our 2018 schedule will be announced soon.
Stay tuned!
WET Expands Great Falls Office
Water & Environmental Technologies, Inc. (WET) is excited to announce the hiring of Rich West, PE and Shawn Arthur, PE in its Great Falls, Montana office. “We are very pleased to have acquired professionals of Rich and Shawn’s caliber. WET is committed to growing its presence in the Great Falls region,” said Josh Vincent, Vice President of WET.
Rich is the Great Falls Office Manager and a Senior Civil Engineer with over thirty years of experience in consulting engineering. He specializes in project management, transportation engineering, drainage, site development, and municipal engineering. Rich provides services to a large variety of clients including local, state, tribal and federal entities along with industrial clients and private developers. Rich graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Montana State University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Montana (#8626PE).
Shawn is a Senior Civil Engineer and has worked in the civil engineering consulting industry since 1993. He has significant project management experience encompassing municipal subdivision development; storm water master planning and modeling; storm water interceptor and collector pipeline design; sanitary sewer collection system and pump station design; waste water treatment system design; municipal water treatment, pumping, storage, transmission and distribution system design; environmental permitting; industrial and commercial civil site development; industrial and residential street and parking facilities; ADA compliant municipal sidewalk design and construction administration . Shawn serves as a project manager, construction administrator and engineer on numerous municipal water, sewer and storm drain infrastructure projects; land development and annexation projects and municipal infrastructure master planning projects.
Shawn has experience working with small private developers, nationwide commercial developers and governmental entities ranging from the smallest unincorporated communities to Federal Military Bases, municipalities, and state transportation departments. Shawn graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Montana State University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Montana (#11007PE).
WET is a regional environmental and civil engineering consulting firm with offices in Butte, Anaconda, Great Falls, and Bozeman, Montana. You can reach our Great Falls office at 406-761-2290.
Learn more about the entire WET team and all our locations.
WET Merges with Nicklin Earth & Water to Provide Expanded Professional Services in the Bozeman Area
In July 2017, Water & Environmental Technologies (WET) merged with Bozeman engineering consultants Nicklin Earth & Water (NE&W). NE&W has been in business in Bozeman since 1995 offering professional environmental, hydrologic, and Bozeman engineering services to clients in the region. NE&W is known for performing environmental investigations and developing remedial alternatives for the Bozeman Solvent […]
Responsible Coal Management for the Protection of Health, Environment, and Montana Jobs
Spurred by the release of 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry from a surface impoundment at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston, TN plant, the EPA proposed two regulatory options in 2010 to address potential risks to human health and the environment from the mismanagement of Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR).
The two regulatory options were structured separately, one under RCRA Subtitle C and the other under RCRA Subtitle D. The Subtitle C regulation proposed to categorize CCR as a hazardous waste, and require CCR generators to dispose of it as such. The Subtitle D regulation proposed to establish national standards for landfills and surface impoundments that receive CCR while maintaining them under a solid waste categorization.
In 2015, Coal-Fired Power Plants supplied approximately 33% of U.S. electric power.
The United States possesses more recoverable coal reserves than any other country in the world. Of the U.S. endowment, some of the cleanest and most accessible reserves are found in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains Region, characterized by subbituminous low-sulfur deposits that lie in thick, near-surface beds, offering substantially greater ease of access than Appalachian coal.
The Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana alone contributed over 40% of coal mined in the U.S. in 2011. Rocky Mountain and Great Plains coal deposits, comprised of the Power River Basin deposit, along with similar deposits in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, account for nearly 50% of U.S. coal reserves.
According to the 2015 U.S. Annual Coal Report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, surface coal mining operations, located predominantly in the aforementioned region, provided between 26,000 and 37,000 U.S. jobs.
Not only do Rocky Mountain and Great Plains coal reserves include a valuable portion of U.S. natural resources, but they also supply a significant percentage of U.S. energy and numerous jobs. Amidst a rebounding U.S. job market and economy, these resources and job numbers mean a great deal.
Mismanaged Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) can pose a widespread threat to human health and the environment.
Coal ash, produced from the combustion of coal for power generation, contains elements such as arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Although these heavy metals are naturally occurring elements found throughout the earth’s crust, mismanaging high-level concentrations, typically of anthropogenic origin, can easily contaminate groundwater, surface water, and the air.
Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury exposure, even at low levels, has been linked to multiple-organ systemic damage. Additionally, all three are either known or probable human carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents. Consequently, attentive handling and disposal practices are essential to the mitigation of potential health and environmental risks.
In December of 2014, after eight public hearings and countless public comments, the “Final Rule: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities” proposed under RCRA Subtitle D, was signed. This new set of standards was entered in to the Federal Register on April 17, 2015.
The Final Rule established technical site requirements for both new and existing CCR landfills and surface impoundments to address the primary risks associated with the storage and disposal of coal combustion residuals. These technical requirements address several components:
Although the more lenient of the two EPA-proposed regulations was used to structure the Final Rule, the technical requirements are stringent, and call for closure of any units that are noncompliant.
To effectively and economically utilize our valuable coal reserves while protecting human health, the environment and our job economy, strategic planning and careful attention to detail is imperative during every step in the process. From well-structured permitting to deliberate design and rigorous monitoring, every detail is vital.
The Final Rule: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities can be found here:
httpss://www.epa.gov/coalash/coal-ash-rule
A summarized Fact Sheet for the Final Rule on Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities can be found here:
httpss://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-12/documents/factsheet_ccrfinal_2.pdf
WET’s permitting, environmental, and engineering team has extensive experience dealing with responsible CCR management at large coal-fired power plants; including landfill and surface impoundment permitting, well installation and monitoring, and periodic reporting.
Contact our team to ensure that all projects: