FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield Environmental Services has recently reorganized to form a new Water Quality Engineering and Development division aimed at improving service to the business and development community as well as strategic planning of sewer and stormwater investments to meet federal regulations and improve water quality.
This change will bring together areas within Environmental Services that are focused on planning and execution of public-facing water quality strategies, including:
- Assisting customers with new or existing sewer connections.
- A pretreatment program which monitors waste from industries.
- A Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) program monitoring wastes from restaurants and other sources.
- A Land Disturbance program for control of erosion and sediments from construction sites.
- Additional programs that work to collect and properly treat wastes from residential and non-residential sources.
The new division will also be responsible for planning and engineering of green infrastructure, using natural plant and soil systems to store and filter stormwater, and for extensions of the sewer collection system to serve new areas of development.
“Sewer service connections, sewer discharge from industries, restaurants and other non-residential sources and grading activities on construction sites all involve code compliance or permitting managed by Environmental Services,” explains Assistant Director of Environmental Services Ron Petering. “This new division brings all these areas together and aligns our staff to promote collaboration on emerging water quality opportunities like green infrastructure.”
Environmental Services has named Zach Martin Principal Engineer over the newly formed division. Martin will lead professional teams focused on sanitary sewer collection system planning and design, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) programs and industrial pretreatment/environmental compliance.
Martin has been a member of Environmental Services for three years, serving as Professional Engineer in the Stormwater Quality division. He has worked extensively with modeling of the City’s sanitary sewer collection system and as project manager for multiple planning and capital improvement projects. He recently led projects with multiple consultant teams to develop an optimized master plan of future sewer collection system capital improvements and renewal projects and to explore a real-time decision-making tool for managing sewer flows during wet weather events.
Prior to joining the City, Martin worked nine years as a hydrologist and professional engineer with the U.S. Geological Survey. He earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
“As we work to reorganize the department to help guide growth and efficiencies in service for the residents of Springfield, we looked for stellar leaders with experience and drive to innovate,” said Errin Kemper, director of Environmental Services. “We are excited that we found what we were looking for within our ranks and are confident Zach will continue to be outstanding in this new role.”
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For more information, contact Communication Coordinator Kristen Milam at 573-819-3713 or [email protected].