Summer 2009 Newsletter

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

by Cathryn Stewart

From the president’s busy corner, filled with reporting, field work, proposal writing, and life in general, To colleagues and friends busy with the same, plus planning a summer jaunt to a favorite spot in the Rocky Mountains, Greetings from your CO-SWANA section president.

The price of oil is on the rise. No, wait, the price is going down. The economy is improving. No, wait, the economy hasn’t bottomed out yet.

Whatever the scenario, SWANA exists to help its members thrive in a not-so-thriving economy. Plan on attending your COSWANA annual meeting on October 8 and 9 to learn something new, get refreshed on a familiar topic, contribute, network, be a sponsor and display your organization’s wares, or lend an ear/hand to a fellow member who is working through these tough times. Encourage a non-member to come, too, to see what CO-SWANA is all about. The individual member sees more benefits from the organization when actively participating in it. LinkedIn? You bet! Through your SWANA membership, you are definitely linked in.

Speaking of which, we have newly “linked in” board members Brenna Barrett (Recycle America) and Cameron Beul (Golder Associates), and Jerry Henderson (CDPHE).

Although the Board currently is well populated, and is well represented per the By Laws from the public and private sectors, the Board always welcomes offers for technical program topics, facility tours, event planning such as the Road-E-O, and the annual meeting. Because the Board currently is full, you can volunteer for a task without fear of being nudged onto the Board!

Looking back to the beginning of the year, we had excellent attendance and great interest in E-Waste Recycling in January. In April we had another good training session including a generous amount of time for questions and answers on the state Stormwater and Air Pollution Control programs. Speaker presentations are posted on our website www.coloradoswana.org/presentations.

Looking ahead, we have Geosynthetic Clay Liner training planned for August 18. Look for a flyer on this technical session in your email box soon. The program flyer for the October 8 and 9 annual meeting also is coming soon. You can register now for the annual meeting via the website. Apologies to our long-distance members – it made economic sense to choose a Front Range location again this year. Whatever distance you will be coming, the October 8 and 9 annual meeting is shaping up to be a great two days.

See you in Colorado Springs or on a solid waste site near you,
Cathryn

2009 CO SWANA Annual Meeting

by Curt Ahrendsen

Make Your Plans for the Annual SWANA Conference in Colorado Springs!

Get your calendars out and set aside October 8 and 9 for the 2009 Colorado Rocky Mountain Chapter of SWANA Annual Conference. The conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Colorado Springs and will be two days of informative talks and tours. This year’s conference will begin on Thursday morning with a welcome and speakers discussing a variety of topics in different sessions. The afternoon will include a tour (still to be determined) followed by a social hour and the annual banquet. Friday will include additional speakers and a closing luncheon. The topics for this year’s conference are currently being finalized but are expected to include economic discussions, recycling and composting, workplace safety, landfill operations, etc.

We are also actively seeking program sponsorship for the conference. If you would like to help sponsor the conference, please contact Neil Nowak at 720-529-0132.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on October 8 and 9 in the Springs.

August Technical Training

by Cathryn Stewart

“Geosynthetic Clay Liner University” on August 18 in Denver.

Plan on attending this training course geared toward design engineers and regulatory personnel. CETCO is offering its GCL training as specially geared to Colorado (i.e., dry) sites. Current hot topics will include GCL hydraulic equivalency with compacted clay liners, GCL chemical compatibility with landfill leachate, GCL wet/dry cycling, and CQA requirements. CETCO is offering professional development hours and SWANA is offering continuing education units for members seeking continuing education requirements to maintain their certifications.

Logistics: August 18, 9:30 am to 2:00 pm, at Geotech Environmental Equipment, Inc., training room, 2650 East 40th Ave., Denver (southeast of I-70 and I-25 interchange).

Registration is available on-line, or complete and return the flyer attached to this newsletter.

‘The Perfect Storm’ April Technical Training

by Jerry Henderson

On April 21, 2009, a SWANA technical training session was held at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at their Cherry Creek Campus in Denver. The topic was ‘The Perfect Storm’ – combining both stormwater and fugitive dust issues encountered at solid waste facilities. Matt Czahor of the Water Quality Control Division gave the stormwater portion of the training. Matt presented an overview of the stormwater regulations and permitting requirements, and then went into detail on what is required to be in a facility’s stormwater management plan. Information was provided relative to various types of entities within the solid waste sector, including recycling facilities, composters, transfer stations, and landfills. Such good questions were generated by the group that Matt left the meeting with a short list of answers to research. You will find those questions and answers, as well as Matt’s presentation, posted on the Colorado SWANA website.

The afternoon session of the training was given by Dana Podell with the Air Pollution Control Division. Dana is the APCD inspector assigned to solid waste facilities throughout the state. APCD inspects roughly thirty solid waste sites each year, and Dana conducts virtually all of those inspections. She spoke first about fugitive dust requirements for landfills and other solid waste sites, and then the Title V permitting requirements for landfills. Afterward, she gave one-on-one assistance to facilities needing help with their permit applications or other documentation, and a couple of facilities did take advantage of this opportunity. Dana’s presentation is also on the CO SWANA website.

International Board Update

by Dick Sprague

This year’s meeting of SWANA’s International Board (IB) resulted in approval of a couple of items that will need ratification by the membership. I will get to those items promptly, but first the really exciting news – we have the first new chapter in more than 10 years!

The Puerto Rico chapter fulfilled all of its responsibilities during its provisional year, and the IB approved its full chapter status during our midyear meeting in Savannah.

SWANA is gearing up for its September 2009 Wastecon in Long Beach, so it might seem early to be making changes for the 2010 Wastecon. The 2010 event will be held in Boston in August, and will be co-located with the American Public Works Association annual meeting. This is an exciting opportunity both for our members and the exhibitors, since we will have a joint exhibit hall which can be expected to draw more and better exhibits.

However, it will occur less than 11 months after the 2009 event. This would put two Wastecon events into a single fiscal year, with none in the subsequent fiscal year. SWANA staff and the Executive Committee suggested that we modify SWANA’s fiscal year in anticipation of this situation. In Savannah, the IB approved the concept of and budget for a 10 month fiscal ”year” which would end on June 30, 2010; this would become the standard fiscal year from that point forward. Since this change would require modifying the Bylaws, it must be approved by membership.

For about a year, SWANA staff, the Executive Committee and the IB have been debating restructuring the make-up of the board. The seven Technical Divisions are the life blood of the organization; they are responsible for the technical content of Wastecon since they participate in selection of papers, and for the technical content of training courses and certification exams. However, they are not fully engaged in the business of SWANA.

A few years ago, SWANA added a Technical Division liaison to the IB and Executive Committee in an attempt to increase their participation in SWANA business. This experiment has not worked as hoped, and it was proposed to add a member of each of the seven Technical Divisions to the IB.

This was hotly debated, since it would add six new IB directors (seven minus the current Technical Division liaison). Many chapter directors argued that the IB is already too large and unwieldy (there are currently 63 members, including the SWANA Officers), that this addition would further dilute the voice of the chapters, and that it was not clear that the Technical Divisions want to be involved in SWANA’s business. At Wastecon 2008, the IB had directed the Executive Committee to further develop this concept, including a plan if this experiment does not work as hoped. In advance of the Savannah meeting, the Executive Committee had circulated its plan, which included a sunset provision. This provision will require the IB to take an affirmative action after the third year; without this affirmative action, the IB would revert to 63 members. In Savannah, the IB approved the concept; I am not sure that this would have been the outcome if the sunset provision had not been added. Since changing the make-up of the IB would require modifying the Bylaws, it also must be approved by membership.

You should expect a ballot on these two issues shortly. Please email me if you need additional information on either of the two upcoming ballot issues.

In Memory of Gary R. Price (09/22/46 - 04/09/09)

By Tom Strickland

Gary R. Price -

Director of Solid Waste Management, Department of Public Works, City and County of Denver.

Colorado lost a true Solid Waste Industry pioneer this past April, when Denver Director of Solid Waste Management Gary Price sadly passed away.

Gary Price served as the Director of Solid Waste Management for 22 years and was integral in the formation of the City’s residential recycling and graffiti abatement programs. Gary served as the President of the Municipal Waste Management Association from 1998 to 1999 and was a long standing member of the Solid Waste Association of North America and the American Public Works Association.

Gary is survived by his wife, son, daughter and grandsons.

A memorial golf tournament will be held in September in honor of Gary. Funds generated from the event will be donated to cancer research in Gary’s name. If you are interested in participating in or supporting this golf tournament please contact Filbert Macias at 303-671-1203 or FilbertMacias@denvergov.org.

SWANA Certification Exam Testing: Colorado Springs, October 9th

By Tom Strickland

The Colorado Rocky Mountain Chapter is currently looking into offering the opportunity for individuals to take the SWANA Certification Exams on October 9th in Colorado Springs following the Chapter’s Annual Conference. The testing details are still currently being worked out with SWANA national. SWANA certification exams include:

• Bioreactor Landfill
• Collection
• Composting
• Construction & Demolition Materials
• Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems
• Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO)
• Transfer Stations
• Recycling

If you are interested in taking any one of the SWANA Certification Exams listed above, please us let know by emailing Tom Strickland.

Also, please continue to visit our website (ColoradoSWANA.org) for updates on Certification Exam testing.

Improved ColoradoSWANA.com website

by Tom Strickland

Over the last year we have been working very hard to improve the look and usability of the Chapter’s website. You should now find the pages easier to navigate and to locate important Chapter information.

We have also fully integrated the “PayPal” system as a method of payment option for all Chapter seminars and conferences. So far, the “PayPal” payment method seems very popular with our members.

Additionally, the sponsorship ads for the website are now displayed on all the sites pages in the third column. The order of the ads change randomly as the users navigates to different pages. For more information on becoming a web ad sponsor, please contact Tom Strickland at 720-865-6813.

Wastecon 2009

by Jerry Henderson

Join the solid waste professionals from across the world September 22-24, 2009 in Long Beach, California. Sessions will be held on a variety of topics, including the connection between solid waste and climate change, on zero waste, renewable energy production, improving public perception of waste-to-energy, and many others. Multiple facility tours will be given and opportunities for networking are readily available.

Wastecon is also a great chance to obtain new certifications or update existing ones. Course offerings include:

• Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO)
• Recycling, Construction and Demolition Materials
• Transfer Stations
• Composting
• Bioreactor Landfills

Those who wish to offset the impact of their travel to the conference can purchase carbon credits. Log onto www.swana.org for more information, and to sign up to attend.

Treasurer’s Report

by Stephen W. Gillette

This is an opportunity to let all of our members know the financial condition of our Chapter. As of July 1, the Chapter has thirty six thousand dollars in liquid assets, and has continued to be debt free. If you have any questions concerning our financial information please let me know.

Colorado Rocky Mountain SWANA Balance Sheet July 1, 2009
ASSETS
Cash and Bank Accounts
Checking	$16,878.16
Savings	$19,522.02
TOTAL	$36,400.18
OTHER ASSETS
E-Business Loan	$17,364.30
TOTAL ASSETS	$53,764.48
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Liabilities	$0.00
Equity	$53,764.48
TOTAL Liabilities & Equity	$53,764.48

Please send any news items you may have for the next issue to:

Jerry Henderson
CDPHE
4300 Cherry Creek Dr. South,
Denver, CO 80246

(303) 692-3455
(303)759-5355 fax
Email