letters Retraining aerospace engineers
DEARSIR: Your article, “New skills for out-ofwork engineers,” in the April 1972 issue was read with interest. However, I must vigorously disagree with your conclusion that “the Grumman program appears to represent just about the best sort of retraining an engineer could hope for, both in quality of instruction and length of program.” The article goes on t o state that if graduates of this program are unable to find employment, critics of all retraining programs will intensify their cries for alternative approaches to putting unemployed talent back to work. The graduates of this program will be operating under many difficulties. First of all, because these trainees had been unemployed, they are not likely to have been among the best of those that had been employed in the aerospace industry. The environmental field does not op-
erate o n “cost-plus,” so quality is very important. Secondly, these trainees would not have had the undergraduate background most appropriate t o environmental studies. Most engineers drawn to the water programs in environmental engineering come from civil and chemical engineering. These trainees had come from mechanical and electrical engineering. Thirdly, the program of study provides 620 hours of classroom instruction, which requires 5 hours a day five days a week over a period of six months. This type of approach is the antithesis of proper education. The typical master’s degree program a t an accredited university involves about the same number of classroom hours but extended over a 12-month period. This permits ample amount of time for work under faculty supervision in projects related t o the program of study t o provide a quality of instruction that cannot be met by being
CO,
lectured a t in a continuous stream. Graduates from the University of North Carolina with a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering are highly sought after every year, with each being offered a wide number of positions from which to choose. If it turns out that the Grumman graduates are not highly sought after, it is no condemnation of retraining. It may just possibly signify that retraining should be done in a university which is equipped for the purpose. After all, the University of North Carolina does not engage in manufacturing airplanes. We d o each year enroll a significant number of engineers making midcareer changes to the environmental field. These individuals have not had nor will they have in the future any difficulty in finding professional positions that are highly rewarding to themselves and t o society. The 20 universities accredited by (Continued on p 480)
CH4
PLUS
THC”
MODEL514 * T o t a l Hydrocarbon
0 M I N I M U M DETECTABLE BELOW 1 P P M 0 0 - 2 5 0 P P M RANGE OCATALYTIC CONVERSION OF COTOCH4 0 FULL PORTABLE 0 FLAME IONIZATION SYSTEM The Model 514 operates i n t w o modes. The c h r o m a t ographic mode provides for the separation O f methane and CO f r o m each other and f r o m a l l other materials. The analysis is complete i n less than three minutes. The m i n i m u m detectable for both compounds is less than 1 p p m on a 1 ml a i r sample. In the total hydrocarbon mode the 1 ml air sample f r o m the gas sampling valve goes directly to the F I D detector where a single peak is obtained. This peak i s proportional to the total organiccarbon i n the sample. I n less than f i v e minutes the Model 514 provides low level determination of carbon monoxide, non reactive hydrocarbon (methane) and reactive hydrocarbons (total hydrocarbon less methane) i n a fully portable mode
ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT INC, 250 S. Franklin Street
-Circle No. 34 on Readers‘ Servioe Card 478 Environmental Science & Technology
West Chester, Penna. 19380 Telephone (215) 692-4575
/
Circle No. 38
on Readers’ Service Card
How a Calgon bug count measures water quality in a mountain stream. A customer planning a new mine site asked us to make a benchmark study of the insect and fish population of a nearby stream. The objective was to get data on stream ecology before and after tunnel construction, mining and ore processing began, so there would be clear warning flags of any environmental stress. Environmental control is one of the many specialized services of Calgon's Water Management Division half century of water s Calgon markets
corrosion and scale inhibitors, polymers and granular activated carbon-to improve the quality or utilization of water. Wastewater, boiler water, cooling water, sewage water, drinking water, any water. Our water analysis service is swift and second to no other. So if you'd like to shift a pollution problem to experienced hands, contact Calgon. Call toll free-800-245-1669," Or write to the Water Management Division, Calgon Corporation, Calgon Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230. *In Pennsylvania, call collect: (412)923-2345, ext. 234.
The Water Managers
(Continued from p 478)
the Engineers Council for Professional Development to provide graduate study in environmental engineering, plus many others besides, are involved in similar programs and can all testify t o the high demand for their graduates. The most cursory survey of regulatory agencies, consulting engineering organizations, and other organizations that specialize in environmental engineering will testify t o the shortage of highly qualified engineers in this field. A crash course for ill-prepared engineers will not satisfy this need. Let me take this opportunity to comment on the posture of our national administration with regard t o training in the environmental field. EPA is sharply curtailing its training grants because the administration claims that large numbers of unemployed and underemployed scientists and engineers are available. As any employer of environmental engineers can testify, the fact that a n aeronautical engineer is available does not relieve the employer of the responsibility for obtaining qualified environmental engineers to meet his very special
requirements. Curtailing resources for educating environmental engineers will have a very deleterious effect on the quality of work done, and the ultimate cost t o society will be much higher than if a proper investment is made in qualified individuals. Daniel A. Okun Department of Enuironmental Sciences and Engineering The Unicersity of North Carolina Chapel Hill, N C 27514
Enforcement in Virginia
DEAR SIR: We hate to quibble with your very helpful roundup, “Air pollution over the states” (ES&T, February 1972, p lll),but feel we must correct the statement that the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board has taken “no enforcement actions” so far. Enforcement has been a part of the Board’s work since its beginning with a noticeable upsurge in early 1970. It has conducted enforcement proceedings that produced orders to some 10 industries
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
I
and three localities to submit abatement plans with binding schedules, where they had failed to act. All complied. About half have already completed corrections o r have installation of control equipment under way. Many other industries filed control programs earlier without the Board’s having to go to this step. They are acting on those programs. The Board has issued a half-dozen cease-and-desist orders to major and minor open burning violators. Our field staffers have taken many lesser enforcement actions without their having to reach the Board. The Board has taken two minor cases to court when its orders were ignored. It obtained a consent decree injunction in one and a conviction in the other. We are seeking a state law amendment sharply increasing court fines. However, our purpose is to obtain results short of having to go to the last resort of court action. William R. Meyer Executice Secretary Virginia Sfate Air Pollution Control Board Richmond, V A 23219
DETERMINE SULFUR IN DROCARBONS IN ONLY
._
.._ -.._
In June, North American International will publish the second edition of Prof. Arnold W. Reitze’s treattise, Environmental Law, Volume One. Printings of the first edition (first published in January of this year) were sold out in an amazingly short time. The second edition has been expanded and updated. VOLUME ONE covers environmental policy and governmental action; air and water pollution; solid wastes and recycling, noise pollution, and private litigation. It contains background technical inf ormat ion. VOLUME TWO will be available this summer. It will cover pesticides, energy production, land use, transportation, wildlife, estuaries, the oceans, and other topics. The set contains more than 1,200 oversize (8% x 11”) pages; the volumes are hardbound; the paper is recycled. When ordered as a set, each volume will be sent individually upon publication. Prices, payable in advance, are $19.95 for VOl. 1, $35.20 for the set, ~~~~
Please enclose check 0 set 0 Volume One alone
Order Form
10
MINUTESI If your pollution control program requires fast, accurate sulfur determination in those oils normally analyzed b y bomb or quartz tube method, look into t h e LECO 10Minute Automatic SuIfur Determinator for dependable r e s u l t s in minimum time. The LECO S u l f u r D e t e r m i n a t o r conforms t o ASTM Method D1552 and total analysis time i s l e s s than 10 minutes. Results are read directly from the instrument as p e r c e n t sulfur. Range i s from 500 ppm to over 10% with accuracy of f4% of sulfur content. And, at the 1650’ C temperatures possible in the LECO Induction Furnace, combustion i s so complete that the results displayed include the sulfur content of any additives present in the sample.
Firm
city --
Sta-e-t
ZIP-
Send to North American International, P 0 Box 28278 Washington D C 20005
-~
480
~
Circle No. 25 on Readers’ Service Card Environmental Science & Technology
LECO
CORPORATION
3000 L A K E V I E W AVE
9
ST JOSEPH
Circle No. 12
M I C H I G A N 49085
on Readers’ Service Card
USA
