A Message From NEIWPCC’s New UST/LUST Program Coordinator: James Plummer

Posted on Monday, September 30th, 2024 | James Plummer

Words I use to describe myself: goofy, helpful, creative, wicked cool, wicked smart, wicked good-looking, and super humble.

Things I am interested in: live music, the natural world and society’s relationship with it, birds, learning, fermentation, water, and most anything at a surficial level.

I started at NEIWPCC as an intern in 2016 with the Youth and the Environment program, coordinating a six-week curriculum for a summer work-based learning program for disadvantaged youth in Lowell, Massachusetts. We went on educational field trips and worked at the local wastewater treatment facility, where I may have spilled primary wastewater on myself, but that was a formative time in my career in the environmental/public health field.

After graduating from the University of Tampa in Florida with a bachelor’s degree in biology, I thought I would be playing with birds in the woods or teaching high school classes. Instead, I found myself back home in New Hampshire, appreciating a comfy office gig at NEIWPCC, and embracing the opportunity to learn about all things water, environmental policy, and project and people management.

Over the last half dozen years, I have been granted foundational opportunities to host national and regional conferences, and coordinate countless workgroup meetings, and essentially achieve what I consider to be a Ph.D. in NEIWPCC’ing. In tandem with being the point person for all things related to nonpoint source management, stormwater, workforce development, and infrastructure finance, I have had the opportunity to spread my wings and build confidence in my project management skills.

A lot of NEIWPCC’s programs gravitate around networking and information sharing. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique occasion to experiment with new styles of conducting meetings. Engagement in any setting, but especially virtual, requires establishing an atmosphere of friendly collaboration, making people feel comfortable and welcome to take a seat at the table. This new opportunity to work with the UST/LUST community has, in just a few short months, fueled new friendships that I am sure will last.

Here are a few things that have inspired me to learn more and things I am excited for coming up:

• Hosted two Tribal UST/LUST Workgroup meetings.
• Attended the Tribal Lands and Environment Forum.
• I will be joining Matthew Jones, NHDES, for a tank closure around the corner from where I live very soon.
• ASTSWMO’s Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

I expect that NEIWPCC’s portfolio of UST/LUST projects will allow me to usher in a new era of engagement for the UST/LUST community. I strive to continue grounding NEIWPCC as a reliable focal point for professionals seeking answers. I aim to serve you all with courtesy and kindness by providing platforms that enable introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts, people of all backgrounds, identities, and convictions to feel safe to express concerns, ideas, and questions in a variety of contexts.

Although I could keep talking about myself, I should probably touch on upcoming work products of interest and where we are taking them.

LUSTLine

There are many tools at our disposal to make LUSTLine more accessible, engaging, and useful. I aim to explore these over the next couple issues while adhering to the traditions established by those folks responsible for creating such a broadly educational and recognizable asset to geographically diverse UST/LUST programs.

As always, please let us know if you are:

• Interested in writing an article for LUSTLine.
• Involved in a program that you think folks should be aware of.
• Participating in the execution of a noteworthy project.
• Interested in seeing videos and other resources linked within future issues.
• Interested in an article or interview with a specific individual.
• Aware of any upcoming or recent events worthy of reporting.

National Tanks Conference

Internal planning is underway for the 2025 National Tanks Conference. Keep an eye out for a Save-the-Date and if you are not on our mailing list, sign up on the National Tanks Conference webpage.

Tribal Activities

NEIWPCC has been coordinating with U.S. EPA and Victoria Flower with Oneida Engineering Solutions to develop a self-paced, online Class A and Class B Operator Training for Indian Country. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out.

NEIWPCC’s Tribal UST/LUST Workgroup brings together Tribal staff to discuss challenges and opportunities they are experiencing. If you are new to your program or have wisdom to share, the participants are a great mix of new and seasoned staff. It is lowkey and I can genuinely call some of the folks I have met in the group friends. It is more of an office hours than a formal workgroup.

NEIWPCC is also working with MobileWright Solutions, Inc. to develop an UST compliance assistance tool capable of providing facility-specific regulatory compliance plans for owners/operators within Indian country. The web-based application will produce a plan that outlines compliance requirements based on facility-specific equipment, highlight actions a facility must complete, and note release response measures and best practices.

Conclusion

There is even more happening behind the screen that we are excited to share with you. I appreciate the enthusiasm of the folks I have met so far, and I am eager to get nerdy about tanks. Please reach out if you have ideas, questions, concerns, or want to just chat about the work that you do. The more folks I meet, the more I learn about the history of these programs and the more stoked I get to gather momentum behind this work.