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Event
AEG Puget Sound March 2019 Dinner Meeting and Jahns Lecture
The AEG Puget Sound chapter will host a dinner meeting and the annual Jahns Lecture on March 21, 2019 in Seattle, Washington.
Deborah Green, geologist and author will present the 2018-2019 Jahns Lecture
A Tale of Two Waste Sites
Once upon a time, decades ago, before many an environmental regulation was promulgated, a consulting geologist was contracted to evaluate a site for development as a low-level radioactive waste facility. The geologist summarized the regional and site-specific geology and hydrology. In his report, based on what hed researched and observed, he discussed potential consequences depending on how the facility would be operated. If waste containers were emplaced in a manner that maintained their integrity and the trenches were covered when not actively in use, the geologist surmised the site had a high probability of functioning safely and effectively. In that case, the possibility of leachate accumulating within the trenches, resulting in perched water tens of feet higher in elevation than the regional groundwater level, would be minimized. Unfortunately, the tale of that waste site is fictional.
The non-fictional waste sites story has the same opening chapter, but the operational constraints outlined by the geologist were not followed. The site received and co-disposed low-level radioactive wastes and those that would later be classified as hazardous wastes in a total of 52 trenches. Waste containers haphazardly filled the trenches, were breached as they settled, and precipitation collected. Indeed, the warnings in the geologists report were correct. Leachate formed in the trenches resulting in numerous contaminants, from tritium (which migrated at the same rate as water itself) to complex organic compounds (which underwent retardation, but still impacted the surrounding environment), flowing from the site in a newly-created shallow, perched water zone, years later daylighting on the hillsides and in the creeks down gradient of the site. This waste sites last chapter was written in a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study when it was listed as a Superfund site. Well talk about how more sites can have happy endings, when the story the geology tells is heeded.
Note: ticket sales end on Friday March 15 at 4pm. Please select the pay-at-door option only if you cannot pay online.
Date:
Thursday, March 21, 2019
- 5:30 Social Hour
- 6:30 Dinner
- 7:30 Program
Location:
Executive Inn by the Space Needle (formerly Best Western Executive Inn)
200 Taylor Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
Speaker:
Deborah Green, Geologist and Author
Ive worked as an environmental and engineering geologist for 34 years in consulting and industry. For more than 20 of those years Ive been self-employed. I discovered my love for geology as a kid when my earth science teacher father informally taught me all sorts of things about rocks on our summer camping adventures. I earned a B.S. in geology from the University of Rochester and an M.S. in engineering geology from Texas A&M University.
These days, I spend most of my work time writing. I recently completed my first novel, which is loosely based on a period in my late husbands life when he was the Chief Foundation Geologist for a large dam in East Central Turkey from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. On my website, www.geologistwriter.com, you can read essays in which I strive to understand and convey the wonder of the landscape and the complexity of earth processes, while also exploring the terrain of our lives.
Dinner Options:
Petite New York Strip
8oz. New York Steak with Dijon Mushroom Demi-Glace, Served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a seasonal vegetable medley.
Teriyaki Stir Fry
Spring Vegetables Sautéed in a Sweet Pineapple Soy Sauce served over Basmati Rice (vegetarian).
If you have additional food restrictions, please feel free to contact Amelia Oates at secretary@aegwashington.org.
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LocationExecutive Inn by the Space Needle (View)
200 Taylor Avenue N
Seattle, WA 98109
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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