Once again Walden participated in Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association Annual OSHA seminar, held on February 14 at the GNYADA Center of the Automotive Education & Training in Whitestone, NY. Mr. Joseph M. Heaney, III P.E., Ms. Edyta Korczynska, and Mr. Joe Burden from Walden gave the presentation outlining environmental health and safety issues (EHS) for New York dealerships. Information on the top 10 OSHA violations, hazardous communication standards (HAZCOM), EHS inspections, emergency action plans, and what to do when OSHA comes knocking were covered in the seminar. If this topic interests you please be sure to check back with our website soon as you will find the presentation given and/or a webinar, or call us anytime.
Twenty-two sighs of relief were heard across the NYC area on March 1, when Walden, an Allied Member of the Greater New York Auto Dealers Association, finished assisting 22 New York City dealerships with their NYCDEP Community Right-To-Know filings.
If you didn’t file, don’t wait. It is more costly in fines to not file at all than to file late!
Walden is pleased to announce Ms. Edyta Korczynska will be obtaining her Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College in May of 2013. Congratulations Edyta! We are very proud of your achievement!
Moms, teachers, and boy scouts everywhere always warn you to be prepared. Well, they are right. Walden recently assisted a Long Island municipality prepare for a joint USEPA and NYSDEC inspection of its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program. This municipality is not alone. The USEPA and NYSDEC are teaming up and inspecting many municipalities on Long Island for complying with the National and State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES and SPDES) permit requirements specifically relating to the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). They are conducting audits and inspections to ensure municipalities are meeting their established Best Management Practices (BMPs) for each of the Minimum Control Measures (MCMs) that are a part of the MS4 program. Make sure you are completely up to date on your stormwater management program (SWMP), meeting all of your BMP’s, and with your knowledge of governmental alphabet soup to ensure a smooth inspection.
Happy Earth Day everyone! This year, Walden staffers Joe Burden, Gloria Gutierrez, and Ashley Erdmann joined other New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) young professionals and volunteered their time on Saturday, April 20th to help clean up and restore the Hurricane Sandy battered beaches in the Rockaways. While the pictures show a rather cool and cloudy day, it is clear that they had a great time giving back to the community, spending time together, and cleaning up our beaches. Thank you Joe, Gloria, and Ashley for doing your part to help out the Earth.
Walden welcomes Ashley Erdmann to its staff! Ashley joins us as a Project Engineer having recently moved to Long Island from Sebastopol, California. Don’t worry, we didn’t know where that was either and had to look it up. We are pleased to find out that our summer BBQ’s will be featuring fine California wines, as Sebastopol is located near Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Ashley brings her expertise in sustainable wastewater treatment facilities, water quality and groundwater treatment system design, and a passion for recycling to Walden. Please join us in welcoming her to our team!
Walden Principal and CEO Joseph M. Heaney, III P.E. and Michael McEachern will be speaking at the New York State Society of Professional Engineers Suffolk Chapter on Wednesday, April 24th at 6pm in the New Village Center, located at 20 Wireless Road, Centereach, NY. They will be discussing hydrofracking and Marcellus Shale, and their talk will cover what is hydrofracking, environmental concerns surrounding hydrofracking, and New York State’s current moratorium on the practice of hydrofracking. If you are interested in attending this presentation, please contact Jackie Peranteau, (Vice President with NYSSPE), at 631-961-0506 or Jackie@Primeengpc.com. You can also register for this event by visiting their website at www.nysspe-suffolk.org. The cost is $20 to members of any NYSSPE chapter or $50 to non-members. Walden will share the slide presentation on its website after the event has ended.
Walden has teamed up with GNYADA and AB Environmental in order to help dealers comply with certain requirements when registering for Above Ground Storage Tank (ASTs). Walden, GNYADA and AB Environmental all helped dealers comply with requirements when registering with their local Health Department.
Read More about GNYADA’s Above Ground Storage Tank Program.
Our very own Joseph Heaney was recently mentioned in an article posted on his alma mater’s website- Lafayette College. The article highlights Heaney’s support of the next generation engineers by helping educate and give experience to over 45 student interns and externs. “The thing I love most about what I do is that I learn new things all the time,” Heaney says in the article. Heaney enjoys sharing all of his knowledge and mentoring students in order to serve as a resource for others. You can view the entire article here!
Right To Know Filing - Deadline March 1, 2013
Automobile dealerships and other facilities are required to complete the annual New York City Community Right-to-Know Program (RTK) Tier II filing with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and New York City Fire Department each year by March 1st. The filing consists of a Facility Inventory Form which documents all of the hazardous substances that each dealership has on-site. Failure to complete the filing or doing so incorrectly can result in fines of up to $2500. Taking an inventory of all of the substances, calculating the volumes and percentages, compiling the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and filling out all of the paper work can be laborious and time consuming. That is time that can be better spent making money by servicing your customers.
As an allied member of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA), Walden Associates has provided these services to many GNYADA member dealerships over the past eight years. Dealerships that hire Walden ensure that their RTK paperwork is complete and filed on time. They are also freed up to spend time focusing on their customers and making money. What would you prefer to be doing with your time? Walden can take this burden off of your hands by contracting with us. When you do, we will visit your dealership, inventory all of the chemicals on-site, compile the MSDS’s, fill out and file the RTK paper work before the March 1st deadline. Everything will be handled for you.
List of services Walden provides to GNYADA member and OTHER AUTO dealerships:
- Hazardous Materials Inventory for Right-To-Know Compliance
Walden EnvironmentalEngineering is an Allied Member of the GNYADA (Greater New York Auto Dealer Association). Walden has taught an environmental and OSHA compliance training seminar on an annual basis, for the past seven years. Topics include:
- OSHA Respiratory Protection
- OSHA in General
- OSHA Confined Space
- HAZCOM Plans
- HAZWOPER Overview
- AST/UST Compliance Issues
- Storage and Disposal Issues
- Auto Repair Shop Compliance
- Waste Oil Management
- Right to Know Services