Lisa Lockerby keeps her boots near her desk. She's an environmental technician
and can't always plan her days too well. "I could get paged to go to a site
and have to get my boots on fast!" she says.
"When I'm in my office, I'm on the computer doing paperwork -- occurrence
reports, statements for court proceedings, correspondence. When I'm on site,
I'm in fields or factories. Most times, when there isn't an emergency, I can
choose to be indoors or outdoors.
"It's always interesting. I love going to different factories. I learn
a lot. I get to see how plastic cups are made or precious metals are captured.
There aren't many jobs like that."
Lockerby goes to a site with a mission. "I'm a reactive officer. There's
a reason I've been called. It may be drums of waste, air pollution or discharges.
I'll look at other things too. For example, smokestacks on a roof have to
be legal and have pollution-control mechanisms on them.
"Part of my job is to take samples. I'll collect evidence or photographs.
Sometimes I'll do some preliminary testing onsite, but most times the samples
go to the lab for analysis."
Wendy Moss thinks environmental technology is a great job for an independent
worker. "I prioritize. Do I go out? Do I need to be by my phone? It's paperwork
versus going to a site. It's my decision, and I'm given a lot of respect and
do a good job."
Moss worked in several areas before she became an environmental technician.
"I worked in the lab as a microbiologist studying how development and recreation
affected lakes. I wrote environmental laws working with industry. Now I've
decided to work at a level lower than I'm used to for the hands-on experience.
It's practical and more exciting and fulfilling.
"I'm called to a variety of places: factories in town, oil spills, pipe
and sewage ruptures, industrial emissions or discharges, leaking underground
storage tanks.
"I've investigated the after-effects of a fire -- we had word that there
was PCB storage on the site. I had to find out whether the PCBs were moved
while the authorities were dealing with the fire, identify the owner, and
get back to the police, fire and medical department with the facts. As it
turned out, the PCBs had been moved before the fire started."
Moss loves the diversity of projects she deals with. "Meeting new people
is part of why I love my job. What's challenging is convincing those who want
to comply but can't afford to, or think they can't. Then I get to negotiate.
It's a challenge to clean up the environment. I think I'm making a difference.
It's a necessary job."
Mark Drake, an environmental technician, sees a bright future
for environmental jobs.
"There are a lot of issues in dealing with the environment -- a lot of
science that's new and unverified," he says. "The ozone is a good example.
It's one of the things I measure in my job. We've learned that it travels
from one place to another. Before, we didn't know that!"