Click this link to read the full flyer, or contact the following people for details: Susan Rinehart, USFS, (406) 329-3669 or Bob Wintergerst, USFS, (406) 329-3036.

Position Requirements:
To be considered for this position, applicants must meet the following minimum requirements:
• Fluency speaking and writing in Chinese and English languages, and experience communicating stormwater and water resource issues in both languages
• Ability to travel out of the country approximately 3-4 days per month
• Undergraduate degree in civil engineering or a related field (Master’s degree preferred)
• 2-3 years professional experience in stormwater and surface water management; civil and environmental engineering
• Excellent writing, verbal communication, and presentation skills
• EIT certification (PE preferred)

http://marketplace.nwsource.com/job/peoplespicks/2009/winners/index.cfm?lid=709003

In addition to winning the Favorite Green Collar Company Herrera was a finalist in 5 other People’s Picks categories: Best Benefits, Coolest office space, Favorite Seattle-area company, Most family-friendly company and Most unusual perk(s). This is Herrera’s second consecutive year as winner in the NW Jobs People’s Picks. Herrera won the most Eco-Friendly Company category last year.

TITLE: Tryon Creek Confluence Enhancement – Providing habitat enhancement and fish access to an urban watershed.
DATE: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
PLACE: Hawthorne Lucky Lab Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland
TIME: 11:30 a.m. Networking, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Presentation
COST: The meeting is free
SPEAKER: Matt Brennan, P.E. – Herrera Consultants and Kristen Acock, P.E. – City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES)

The Tryon Creek watershed encompasses 4,140 acres, of which 75 percent is located within the City of Portland. Tryon Creek supports populations of steelhead, coho and chinook salmon, and cutthroat trout. By removing fish passage barriers, reducing stormwater discharges, and improving instream and floodplain habitat conditions, these populations could potentially be enhanced greatly. The City of Portland has been focusing efforts on habitat enhancement and stormwater management in the watershed. The confluence of Tryon Creek with the Willamette River is the focus of current enhancement efforts, including fish passage improvements constructed by ODOT at the Highway 43 culvert in 2008, and floodplain, riverbank, and channel enhancements to be constructed in 2010. The presentation will discuss recent activities in the Tryon Creek basin, the current confluence enhancement effort, and potential future actions that will affect the watershed’s health.

Matt Brennan, P.E. is a senior water resources engineer with Herrera Environmental Consultants with 14 years of experience. Mr. Brennan has designed and overseen construction of many aquatic habitat enhancement and restoration projects in the region, including several in Portland on Johnson Creek and Tryon Creek. Kristen Pleyte Acock, P.E. is a civil engineer at the City of Portland BES. Kristen is in the Watershed Services group at BES and her background includes 14 years of water resources work in the planning, modeling and design of storm and sanitary sewers and riverine systems.

For additional information contact: Chris Goodell, EWRG President at 503-485-5490 or cgoodell@westconsultants.com.

All are welcome to attend EWRG meetings. View EWRG meeting announcements, past meeting topics, goals, officers, etc., at www.asceor.org/environmental-and-water-resources-group.

Qualifications: M.S. in civil engineering or geological sciences or 10 years of consulting experience managing projects involving floodplain mapping and hydraulic modeling. Academic training and experience with a focus on fluid mechanics, hydraulic modeling, and fluvial or coastal geomorphology. Excellent field skills in floodplain mapping and channel and shoreline surveys. Excellent writing and communication skills. Ability to effectively manage a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers. Expertise in the following areas–GIS (ARC VIEW, Spatial Analyst), open channel and coastal hydraulics, sediment transport and budgets, hydrology, mechanics, and project management skills. Hydraulic design and analysis for hydroelectric facilities, water intake and conveyance facilities, fish passage facilities, spillways, and projects involving sediment control, erosion protection, and environmental mitigation. Hydraulic design analyses in support of projects involving physical and numerical modeling and river engineering.

Desired Experience: Prior consulting experience working with a multi-disciplinary team and managing multiple floodplain mapping, river engineering, and hydraulic modeling projects. Experience with the application of a variety of 1-D and 2-D hydraulic models in Pacific Northwest systems. Assessment and modeling of the physical effects of woody debris, sediment transport, and geomorphic response. Experience with scope of work and budget preparation.

Illustration of Wusong master plan, courtesy of SWA Landscape Architects.

This project was recently featured in Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS11008+09-Sep-2009+BW20090909
And written up in GlobeSt.com: http://www.globest.com/news/1498_1498/insider/181119-1.html?sector=green#

A Message from Carlos Herrera

Dear Colleagues, Friends and Family:

Since 2002, Herrera Environmental Consultants has worked with World Concern to build bridges in Tibet. We are currently working to raise funds to purchase the materials necessary to build three new bridges.

In the remote areas of Tibet where World Concern works, villagers live much of the year in complete isolation–cut off from the rest of their country by snow melt and wet weather in the Himalayas that turn seasonally passable creeks into raging, impassable rivers. Being isolated for months at a time means that villagers have no access to schools, markets for their goods, or medical help. Providing villages with a simple foot bridge greatly increases their standard of living, making it possible to send their children to school, sell their grain and livestock, and have access to doctors and hospitals.

We’ve included four photos from some of our recent bridge projects. The first (above) shows a young woman crossing a raging river the traditional way, by shimmying across a yak hide cable. (I also crossed the river on this cable!) The second (below) shows one of our bridges under construction. This bridge is located in Gyibu in southern Tibet near the Nepal border, and has a span of 60 meters over a 238 meter deep gorge. The final 2 pictures (below) show our completed bridge in Gyibu and another we built in Shoda, in central Tibet.

Here’s the way we go about our typical bridge projects:

First, we raise funds to buy bridge materials. All the money we raise goes directly to bridge construction. This year our goal is to raise $100,000, enough to construct 3 bridges. A typical bridge costs $25,000 to $35,000 in materials.

Second, World Concern staff in Tibet design the bridges based on previous designs developed by Herrera Environmental Consultants. Volunteers from Herrera review the design and work with the Tibet staff to adapt the design to the new location.

Finally, the villagers themselves construct the bridges, with training and oversight from World Concern Tibet staff and Herrera Environmental Consultants volunteers.

We’ve raised $35,000 so far, but we need your help to raise the remaining funds to reach our goal of $100,000. If you would like to help, please send a check to:

World Concern Tibet Bridges
c/o Carlos Herrera
Herrera Environmental Consultants
2200 Sixth Ave #1100
Seattle, WA 98121

All donations are tax deductible, and every little bit helps. Please make checks out to World Concern-Tibet Bridges.

Thanks for considering a donation. More importantly, please keep us in your thoughts, well wishes and prayers.

Click the picture above to see KING 5’s coverage of a project walk-through including Lauren Rich (Upper Skagit Indian Tribe environmental planner) Michelle Pirzadeh (EPA acting Regional Administrator), Billy Frank Jr. (Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission), and David Dicks (Puget Sound Partnership).

Section S.5.C.3. – Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDD&E)

• By August 2009: “Each Permittee shall ensure that all municipal field staff who are responsible for identification, investigation, termination, cleanup, and reporting illicit discharges, including spills, improper disposal and illicit connections are trained to conduct these activities.”
• By February 2010: “An ongoing training program shall be developed and implemented for all municipal field staff, which, as part of their normal job responsibilities, might come into contact with or otherwise observe an illicit discharge or illicit connection to the storm sewer system shall be trained on the identification of an illicit discharge/connection, and on the proper procedures for reporting and responding to the illicit discharge/connection.”

Section S.5.C.5. – Pollution Prevention and Operation and Maintenance for Municipal Operations

• By February 2010: “Develop and implement an on-going training program for employees of the Permittee whose construction, operations or maintenance job functions may impact stormwater quality. The training program shall address the importance of protecting water quality, the requirements of this Permit, operation and maintenance standards, inspection procedures, selecting appropriate BMPs, ways to perform their job activities to prevent or minimize impacts to water quality, and procedures for reporting water quality concerns, including potential illicit discharges.”

Training Options and Who Should Attend

Three low-cost training options are available, focused on the specific permit sections highlighted above.  You can choose 1, 2, or all 3 of the following training options depending on your jurisdiction’s specific needs:

Option 1 – General Awareness Level IDD&E Training (S.5.C.3.f.ii)

Who should attend? All municipal field staff should attend this training if they might come into contact with or otherwise observe an illicit discharge or illicit connection to the storm sewer system as part of their normal job responsibilities. This may include staff from Parks, Utilities (Stormwater and Street crews), Police, Fire, or other departments.

The training lasts approximately 1 hour and includes:

• An overview of the Phase II IDD&E permit requirements
• How to identify an illicit discharge/connection
• Proper procedures for reporting and responding to an illicit discharge/connection.

Option 2 – Response Level IDD&E Training (S.5.C.3.f.i)

Who should attend? Municipal field staff should attend this training if they are responsible for identification, investigation, termination, cleanup, and reporting illicit discharges, including spills, improper disposal, and illicit connections.

The training lasts approximately 4 hours and includes:

• How to identify, investigate, terminate, clean up, and report illicit discharges
• Effective field protocols and examples
• Enforcement and removal procedures
• A group dry weather inspection (weather permitting) of a stream or outfall of your choice
• Lessons learned from other jurisdictions.

Option 3 – Operations and Maintenance Training (S.5.C.5.h)

Who should attend? Municipal employees whose construction, operations, or maintenance job functions may impact stormwater quality.

The training lasts approximately 1 hour and includes:

• An overview of maintenance standards specified in Chapter 4 of Volume V of the 2005 Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington
• How to conduct annual inspections of stormwater treatment and flow control facilities
• How to conduct annual inspections of catch basins and inlets
• Sample field checklists to record inspection data
• Overview of best management practices (BMPs)
• Overview of standard operating procedures (SOPs) with examples
• Overview of how to develop and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) with examples.

Location
Herrera will provide training at your offices, for as many or as few staff as you require, based on the NPDES training requirements.

Cost
Previous experience and repeat trainings allow us to keep costs low.  The cost of training will be negotiated with each jurisdiction – tailored to the needs of your jurisdiction, the training options selected (i.e., Option 1, 2, and/or 3), and the number of people trained.

Registration
If you are interested in receiving this training, please click here to register and we will follow-up to arrange the training.


Click here for more information about Herrera’s NPDES permit compliance and training experience

This complementary experience in the practical application of municipal procedures, combined with experience training municipal staff on those same procedures, allows us to develop training programs that not only meet basic NPDES permit requirements, but also resonate with staff and increase comprehension and performance. We understand which sections of the Phase II permit are most important (to municipal staff, and to Ecology), as well as most often misunderstood, and can help you incorporate this information into your current programs.

Dave Felstul Principal Scientist	Ian Mostrenko Associate Engineer	Dylan Ahearn Senior Scientist	Josh Wozniak Senior Scientist	Mark Ruebel Senior Engineer
Jennifer Schmidt Project GIS	Elizabeth Woodcock Staff Scientist	Regina Sparano Accounting Staff	Kristin Kotlan HR Director	Hilary Snover Administrative Assistant

Tracy Rudnick, Accounting Staff (photo unavailable) 

Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc. (Herrera) is an employee-owned engineering and applied sciences firm based in Seattle, Washington. Our 120 employees are committed to working with our clients to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for infrastructure, natural resources, and stormwater projects. Herrera was recently selected as “most eco-friendly company” in the NWjobs People’s Picks 2008.

• Lee Maddeford – Ciao
• Lou Gaioto – Sambalele
• Paulo Sacramento – Batida Urbana; Culinária Brasileira
• Reno Project – Afterwork; Constellation; Down; Urban
• The Kyoto Connection – Let The Sun In; Painting With Lights

As reported in the Sunday, November 9th edition of the Seattle Times, Herrera was voted winner of Most Eco-Friendly Company, and a finalist in 4 other People’s Picks categories: Favorite Seattle Area Small Company, Favorite Office Party, Most Family Friendly and Most Unusual Perks.

In addition to the Group Health Challenge, riders competed for fame and glory in the internal office competition. Four teams, Uno, Dos, Tres, and Cuatro battled for a year’s worth of bragging rights and heckling privileges. Congratulations to all riders! Here are results:

Overall Winning Team: Herrera Uno (1,816 miles)
Top Rider: Andy Behnke (387.6 miles)
Bikers with 100% Ridership: Rob Zisette, David Yu, Dylan Ahearn, Natalya Tonkikh, Jeryl Kolb, Katheryn Seckel, Regina Sparano, Mary Larkin, and Kris Lepine.
New Bike Commuters: Marleen Arenivar (174 miles) and Natalya Tonkikh (166 miles)

HSS is the solution to your staffing needs.

We provide trained personnel to assist you with increased workload for temporary or long-term assignments. Our services include program management, specialized technical expertise and staffing in a wide range of scientific, information technology and administrative support fields.

Website coming soon…

Herrera’s Olympia office is located on 4th Avenue, between Puget and Tullis Streets. The office is in a converted house, and the sign in front of the building says “Envirovision.”

Driving directions

From I-5 North:

1. Take exit 105, toward the Port of Olympia
2. From the round-about, take the first right, onto Henderson Blvd.
3. At the first light, take a left onto Plum Street
4. Take a right at 4th Ave
5. Go .3 miles ; we are on the left between Puget and Tullis streets.

From I-5 South:

1. Take exit 105 (b), toward the Port of Olympia
2. Go straight at the light, onto Plum Street.
3. Take a right at 4th Ave
4. Go .3 miles up the hill and we are on the left between Puget and Tullis streets.

Joy Michaud, EnviroVision founder, joins Herrera as a Water Quality Principal and will lead the Olympia office.

“The merging of the two firms is a strong and natural fit. Joy and four of Herrera’s principals attended the same UW graduate program together, and our firms have a long history of partnering on projects,” commented Carlos Herrera, Herrera’s president and founder.

With our new Olympia office, Herrera has five locations including Seattle, Sequim, Portland, and Missoula. Herrera is an employee-owned environmental firm; our 120 employees are committed to working with our clients to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for infrastructure, natural resources, and water resource projects.