Geo Slice

Next Meeting - Thurs, Nov. 5th (New Location)

2009-11-03T16:23:00.001-07:00

Dear AEG Members, Professional Colleagues, Students, and Friends:The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that our next meeting will be held on Thursday November 5, 2009 at Monti's in downtown Tempe. Please make note of the new location - Uno's closed down so we had to scramble to get a place - Monti's is located only a few blocks north. The hosted social hour begins at 6 PM (thanks to Saguaro GeoServices), dinner is usually around 7 PM and the talk will begin shortly after dinner. The presentation topic is "Evaluation of Earthquake Damage to a Flood Protection Levee System at a Central American Banana Plantation" presented by Bob McMichael, P.E. and Kenneth Turner, R.G. of Ninyo & Moore.

Hope to see you all there!Please RSVP to Bonnie Whitley, bonnie@gtiaz.com, by ASAP.

WSDOT's Earthquake Simulation

2009-10-29T09:54:00.002-07:00

WSDOT has created a very cool earthquak simultion for Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Enjoy!

Next Meeting - November 5th

2009-10-29T09:48:00.002-07:00

Dear AEG Members, Professional Colleagues, Students, and Friends:

The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that our next meeting will be held on Thursday November 5, 2009 at Pizzeria Uno in Tempe. The hosted social hour begins at 6 PM (thanks to Saguaro GeoServices), dinner is usually around 7 PM and the talk will begin shortly after dinner. The presentation topic is "Evaluation of Earthquake Damage to a Flood Protection Levee System at a Central American Banana Plantation" presented by Bob McMichael, P.E. and Kenneth Turner, R.G. of Ninyo & Moore. Hope to see you all there!

Please RSVP to Bonnie Whitley, bonnie@gtiaz.com, by Tuesday November 2nd.

“Evaluation of Earthquake Damage to a Flood Protection Levee System at a Central
American Banana Plantation”

Abstract:

A seismic event located off the northeastern coast of Central America resulted in damage to an earthen flood protection levee system. An insurance claim by the owner provided anassessment of areas within the levee system that warranted repairs. The purpose of our services was to evaluate the insured’s categorization of damages and to provide an independent opinion based upon our observations. Our assessment of the site conditions involved walking approximately 60 kilometers of the levee system, photographically documenting our observations, and using global positioning system (GPS) devices for location purposes. Our conclusions generally concurred with the owners initial assessment and actually provided additional lineal footage of the levee system to be included for repairs.

Bios:

Mr. Robert W. McMichael, P.E. was educated at Purdue University, and earned a B.S.C.E. in 1985 and an M.S.C.E. in 1986. He possesses more than 25 years of geotechnical and environmental consulting experience in the western, midwestern and southern United States, and internationally. His experience includes many hundreds of design phase (pre-construction) studies, construction-phase support projects, and postconstruction (forensic) studies. He is the Chief Engineer and Managing Principal of Ninyo & Moore’s operations in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. He provides expert or “forensic” geotechnical consulting services, including expert testimony. He also has specialty expertise in the geotechnical evaluation of environmentally contaminated sites, as well as the analysis and design of dams and levee systems.

Mr. Kenneth J. Turner, R.G. was educated at Northern Arizona University, and earned a B.S. in Geology with an engineering emphasis in 1998. He possesses more than 11 years of geotechnical consulting experience in the southwestern United States and internationally. He is a Senior Engineering Geologist with Ninyo & Moore. As Senior Engineering Geologist for Ninyo & Moore, Mr. Turner's responsibilities include managing forensic; construction service; and geotechnical design projects; authoring geotechnical reports; reviewing boring logs and inspection reports; and also providing guidance and technical advice to junior staff. He has expertise in conducting forensic geotechnical evaluations related to construction.

Proposed cuts to the AZ Geological Survey

2009-10-19T10:15:00.002-07:00

As Chair of the AZ Section of AEG I sat on advisory panel that helped the AZGS figure out what to cut from an organization that needs more support and not less. Below is the press release from the State Geologist that he posted on Arizona Geology.

The Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budget this morning released the lists of state agency programs (http://www.ospb.state.az.us/BudgetReports.asp) that would have to be permanently eliminated or reduced to meet the state’s budget shortfall. The lists would have to go to the Legislature for consideration. The cuts, if implemented, are calculated for taking effect January 1, 2010.

The Arizona Geological Survey would lose state funding to operate 11 out of a total of 24 programs. Another seven program areas would be reduced by amounts ranging from about 5% up to 50%. The programs were prioritized by an external review panel of AZGS stakeholders (data and service users) that used public input to help guide their recommendations.

Core programs we will attempt to preserve are:

Geologic Hazards

Geologic Mapping

Mineral Resources

Basin Analysis (entirely contract and grant funded).

Most of the eliminated programs have only limited state general fund support to begin with; typically a part of one or two people’s time. AZGS has raised external funds for years to subsidize state-mandated operations. We will continue to seek outside monies to underwrite these functions, but the budget scenario proposes transferring funds from external accounts as well to make up the state budget shortfall, leaving fewer options for us to fund these programs.

AZGS state-funded programs identified for elimination are:

Phoenix Branch Office

Energy Resources

Core and Sample Repository

Inquiries

Education, Outreach, and Tech Transfer

Enterprise Geodatabase

Library

Earth Fissures

Publications

Information Technology Support

Website Updates

Areas taking additional cuts due to transfer of agency-generated funds are:

Finance/Administration

Energy Resources

Map and Book Store (closed for walk-in sales; mail/phone orders only)

Inquiries, Outreach, and Tech Transfer

GIS Map Production and Database Development

Information Technology Support

Technical Support for the AZ Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.

We are implementing additional cost-cutting moves now, including reducing the number of vehicles and office phones, renegotiating service contracts, and transferring staff to new contracts and grant funded projects.

Request to contact members about Earthquake Re-authorization in Congress

2009-10-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

The following message was received from American Geological Institute (AGI), of which AEG is a member society. We realize that many members use the information and resources at the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. If you are interested in assisting, please see below.

******
Dear Friends of NEHRP,

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) is waiting for re-authorization in Congress. The last authorization ended in 2009 and now the program is in limbo. The House Science and Technology Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee have jurisdiction over NEHRP. Both are working on draft bills for re-authorization but no bill has been introduced in Congress yet. We are worried about possible reductions in authorization levels and possible complications/delays in re-authorization caused by including language that expands the bill to cover other hazards such as wildfires. We have provided input to the committees, however, it would be helpful if stakeholders/constituents provided inputs to their members, especially in states with seismic risk.

So we are asking you to consider sending letters to your members (representative and two senators). It would be most efficient to send the letters by email or by fax. Every member has a web site with email contact info. I would also suggest sending the email to a staffer in the office that you have spoken with in past visits to the Hill. If you need an email address or fax number, please contact Corina (ccd@agiweb.org).

Below is some draft text that you could use for emails or letters on letterhead. The main message is please re-authorize NEHRP at current authorization levels as soon as possible.

You may also send the text of the letter or if you are using letterhead then an attachment by email to the staff on the relevant committee who are in charge of preparing the NEHRP measure

For the Senate CST, please send emails (can send as one group email) to:

Subcommittee on Science and Space: Beth Bacon elizabeth_bacon@commerce.senate.gov

and Minority Staff, Senior Counsel Todd Bertoson, todd_bertoson@commerce.senate.gov

For House S&T please send emails (can send as one group email) to: Majority staff working for Rep. David Wu (D-OR) Mike Quear, mike.quear@mail.house.gov and Meghan Housewright meghan.housewright@mail.house.gov And Minority staff Dan Byers dan.byers@mail.house.gov

In the House, Representative David Wu (D-OR) is the member responsible for seeing the NEHRP bill through committee to the full House. In the Senate, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is the responsible member. If you have colleagues from Wu's district or California, then as constituents they can send emails to these two members' personal offices too.

The relevant staff in the office of Boxer is Cerin Lindgrensavage, cerin_lindgrensavage@boxer.senate.gov.

The relevant staff in Wu's office is Dennis Worden, dennis.worden@mail.house.gov.

Others are welcome to send emails to these staffers, but constituents are the most important of course.

Some of you are receiving this email because your member is on the relevant subcommittee for NEHRP consideration and you have done congressional visits in the past (e.g. Senator Tom Udall, NM, Sen. John Ensign, NV and Sen. Mike Johanns NE; Rep. Gabby Giffords, AZ, Rep, Ben Luan NM, Rep Harry Mitchell AZ and Rep. Adrian Smith NE). You could send emails to the staffers that you visited with in their personal offices.

You are welcome to invite your colleagues to send emails. Most helpful would be constituents of Rep. David Wu in OR-1st and/or Sen. Boxer in CA.

Thank you, Linda
Linda Rowan
Director of Government Affairs
American Geological Institute
4220 King St
Alexandria VA 22302
703-379-2480 x228
FAX 703-379-7563

www.agiweb.org/gap

******

The Honorable __________ United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable __________ United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Representative __________:
Dear Senator __________:

I am writing to ask for your support in the re-authorization of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) [Public Law 108-360]. The program has been running since 1977, but is now in limbo because its authorization ended in 2009.

NEHRP has successfully reduced the risk of earthquakes through the cohesive efforts of four federal agencies: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Basic research conducted by NSF and the USGS, monitoring and assessments conducted by NSF and the USGS, engineering practices and standards conducted by NIST and education, preparedness and response conducted by FEMA have contributed to fewer fatalities, less property damage and less economic disruption from earthquakes in the United States.

NEHRP is a modest and well run program with strong coordination and collaboration among the four agencies mentioned above. Unfortunately it may become weakened by uncertainty or delay in authorization, reductions in already underfunded programs such as the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) and dilution of the coordination/leadership of the program by the addition of other natural hazards.

Please support the re-authorization of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) in its current form and at its current authorization levels with small increases for inflation in the coming years.

Thank you,

XXX

Arizona Geological Survey Budget Cuts - Input Requested

2009-09-21T10:21:00.001-07:00

Hello all,

I'm sure that you all have seen that our state government is in pretty poor shape these days. Things are looking especially bad for the AZGS as more budget cuts are needed. Up to now the AZGS has managed to not significantly reduce the services that it provides, but that will no longer be the case with this next round of cuts. As a result, the AZGS is requesting comments as to what parts of its mission are critical and what parts expendable.

A review panel of stakeholder organizations will meet in early October to help advise AZGS on the tough decisions ahead. AEG will be a part of this review panel. I'm asking all of you (members and non-members) to please comment so that your input can be included. Lee Allison (the State Geologist and director of the AZGS) is posting about this on his blog at http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/. His original post on the issue can be found at http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-should-we-eliminate-in-next-round.html. He will also be posting the services and activities that are on the chopping block, so check back often.

Below, I've copied some of the email that Lee sent me that outlines just how bad the situation is.

We have to submit plans for 15-20% cuts in the current budget by October 10, based on permanent elimination of AZGS programs. No other options (furloughs, salary reductions, spreading cuts around) will be considered.
The situation is more desperate than might seem apparent. The cuts would take place in January, which means we have to implement a full year’s cuts in 6 months. This results in effective cuts of 30-40% by permanently eliminating enough programs to achieve that. We are also being told to turn over 15-20% of our bookstore revenues (used to run the store and produce publications) and an equal amount of funds we collect from contracts and grants to pay for the cost of carrying out those operations. We are still assessing the extent and impacts of these two fund transfers.
We have already taken about 30% in cuts in the past 15 months. However, our infrastructure costs have not been reduced (rent, phones, accountants, insurance, etc).
As a result, this next round of cuts may necessitate reduction of our geoscience operations by 80% or so.

Plate Tectonics in Action

2009-09-14T10:43:00.003-07:00

I saw this video and thought it was rather fun. I'm not sure that I believe the future speculation (isn't the Great Rift Valley in Africa currently spreading?). Anyway, enjoy.

650 Million Years In 1:20 Min.
by xchristox

Erick Weiland appointed to AZ Board of Technical Registration

2009-09-14T10:39:00.003-07:00

From Arizona Geology:

Gov. Jan Brewer has appointed Tucson geologist Erick Weiland to a two year term on the Arizona Board of Technical Registration, replacing Dawn Garcia, who stepped down after serving since 2005, according to the AIPG Arizona Chapter newsletter. There is only one geologist on the board, and Erick will represent Arizona on the Association of State Boards of Geologists (ASBOG) in the development and administration of the Geology test for professional registration.

Previous appointments to AzBTR and ASBOG include Ralph Weeks, Frank Turek, and Bill Greenslade.

For the record, as Chair of the Arizona Section of AEG, I co-wrote a letter with the Arizona Section of AIPG recommending Erick's appointment to the BTR. I'm very relieved that geologists will have representation on the board.

Next Meeting - Sept. 17th

2009-09-10T19:47:00.001-07:00

The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that our next meeting will be held on Thursday September 17, 2009 at Pizzeria Uno in Tempe. The hosted social hour begins at 6 PM (thanks to Boart Longyear), dinner is usually around 7 PM and the talk will begin shortly after dinner. The presentation topic is "Evaluating Scour at Bridge Foundations on Rock: Status of NCHRP Project 24-29" presented by Jeffrey R. Keaton, Ph.D., PE, PG, F.ASCE. Hope to see you all there!

Please RSVP to Bonnie Whitley by Tuesday September 15th.

Hope to see you there!

Student Volunteers Needed at AEG National Meeting

2009-09-01T15:02:00.001-07:00

Student Volunteers are needed for the 2009 AEG Conference in Lake Tahoe September 21st to the 26th. Your incentive for volunteering is FREE registration! To volunteer, go to the AEG website (aegweb.org) and click on the Lake Tahoe icon, click on Student Volunteer Registration, enter your AEG Student username and password and fill out the form. If you're not an AEG Student Member, you can join for only $25 by visiting the Why You Should Join AEG under the Students tab. Don't forget to sign up for the Student-Professional Event on Tuesday, it's FREE! Hope to see you there!

Field Trip to SR 87 Landslide

2009-08-24T10:48:00.004-07:00

Hello from the beautiful (and HOT!) Phoenix. The Arizona Section held a field trip this August 15, 2009 in lieu of our regularly scheduled meeting. The group took the opportunity to get out of the heat and headed to north to the project site.

The project site, the State Route 87 (SR 87) Landslide, located between about 45 miles north of Phoenix in the Mazatzal Mountains near Rye, Arizona. The field trip was led by Pancho Garza, Arizona Section Vice Chair, and Wayne Harrison, Arizona Section member. In addition to their AEG affiliation, both are with AECOM, the engineering firm hired to investigate the landslide and develop emergency and long-term mitigation in response to the landslide.

The project has been a local news story of much local interest since March 21, 2008 when after a series of heavy precipitation events, a landslide in a cut slope buckled an adjacent portion of SR 87 resulting in a week-long closure of the highway. Immediately after the landslide, the Arizona Department of Transportation and their consultants conducted an initial assessment of the damage and possible causes. Aerial photogeologic reconnaissance and surficial geologic mapping guided an extensive subsurface investigation of the local slide and the much larger ancient landslide which consisted of test drilling and monitoring instrumentation installations. Monitoring and instrumentation included slope inclinometers, vibrating-wire piezometers, wire-extensometers, deformation surveys, and time-domain reflectometry (TDR).

The group totaling about 30 people included a mixture of professionals and students including attendees from all across the state. Everyone met up early Saturday morning before piling into two 15-passenger vans. The hour drive to the site was spent getting to know everyone, and discussing various geologic features along the way.

The project site is located at an elevation of approximately 4500 feet in the Mazatzal Mountains which are located within the Transition Zone Physiographic Province. The Transition Zone province is a very jumbled and extremely interesting geologic area that lies between the relatively flat uplifted Colorado Plateau province to the north and the tilted Basin and Range province to the south.

The field trip included three stops at various areas with the project site with the group leaders providing explanations to the group. The first stop allowed attendees to hike up on top of a dual-tiered set of soil nail walls to get a good view of the various project features including the head scarp of the ancient landslide structure in which the recent landslide occurred and the various cut slopes, buttresses, drainages, and instrumentation included in the investigation and mitigation. The second stop involved a 12-foot multi-plate with water dissipaters underneath an embankment buttress. The third and final stop was at a rock buttress within the landslide completed as part of the mitigation measures. Here site plans showing boring, instrumentation, and cross section locations and interpreted slide limits and cross sections showing the landslide and underlying geology were presented. Also, an up-close inspection of the instrumentation used in the on-going monitoring was presented.

After a quick lunch, the group piled back into the vans and headed back to Phoenix. The group arrived in the early afternoon where the weary travelers got into their vehicles and headed home, mostly to cool off and rest I think. Most of the attendees found the trip and presentation very interesting and suggested more field trips. Overall the trip was a great success!

For more information on the SR 87 Landslide project, be sure to catch the upcoming presentation at the AEG National conference in September. Upcoming Arizona Section events include our regular monthly meeting tentatively scheduled the week before the AEG Annual meeting (anyone visiting Arizona on vacation is encouraged to attend) our annual Holiday Meeting, and in early 2010, our fifth annual Student Night that will be held at the campus of Arizona State University.

AZGS Online Publications Page

2009-08-24T10:46:00.001-07:00

From email:

On 3 August we [AZGS] debuted our new Online Publications page. There are about 50 geologic reports and maps there now as free downloadable PDFs -- with dozens more to come soon.

*New Publication Model - The AZGS Online Publication Outlet.* AZGS is migrating to a digital publication model, making new publications available free online. And for the first time, we’re marketing GIS data of newly released geologic quadrangles: geodatebase, shapefiles, for $25.00. Printed maps still available at the AZGS Map and Bookstore.

That URL is: http://www.azgs.az.gov/publications_online.shtml

Must-Read Article on Groundwater Use in Arizona

2009-08-03T10:31:00.003-07:00

Via Arizona Geology

A must-read article outlining the use and over-use of groundwater in Arizona came out in the Arizona Republic over this past weekend. It's so rare that media gets something right, and this is one case of the media nailing the issue (though if anything, the situation is under-stated in my opinion).

California Board of Geology Terminated in New Budget Deal

2009-07-30T11:49:00.001-07:00

As a result of the new California State Budget, the Geology Board is slated to be terminated.

The termination of the Geology Board and transfer of its authorities to the Board of Professional Engineers and Surveyors is on page 26 of the final State Budget

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/FullBudgetSummary.pdf

This appears to be a significant detriment to the professional practice of geology in the State of California.

According to the Geology Board, they aren’t sure that it’s a done deal yet, and they recommend that you contact your local representatives if you’d like to protest this decision. The Geology Board plans to continue to operate business as usual until they hear otherwise.

Field Trip - SR 87 Landslide

2009-07-18T19:43:00.002-07:00

The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that the SR 87 Landslide Field Trip will be held on Saturday August 15, 2009. We will be meeting at the Bass Pro Shop located at 1133 North Dobson in Mesa at 8am. AEG will be providing transportation as well as soda and water. Pancho Garza, P.E. and Wayne Harrison, P.G. will be discussing the SR 87 landslide remedial repairs, investigation and monitoring.

Please RSVP , Bonnie Whitley by Wednesday August 12th.

Hope to see you there!

A Few Things of Interest

2009-07-06T09:53:00.003-07:00

As always, there is a lot of good stuff over at the Arizona Geology blog, so I encourage a visit. But, I have to repeat something I saw over there:

The Arizona Guardian online newspaper, is prominently displaying a YouTube video of Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen in a committee hearing, with the caption:

On June 25th the senator voiced support for opening up uranium mining in Arizona and countered environmentalists by assuring them that the the Earth has been around for "6,000 years..." and has lasted that long without environmnental laws. She said it twice.

Thankfully she's not my representative (she represents Snowflake), but I'm really disturbed that someone with views like this legislates in Arizona. It's really no wonder that the state governement is in such bad shape right now.

And because I don't want this post to be a complete downer - the following is a time-lapse video from the International Space Station of an incredible eruption of the Saraychev eruption last month in the Kuril Islands (north of Japan). This one is big enough to make for nice sunsets world-wide for a while (though it's still too early to determine if climate will be affected).

New Fissure Maps and Subsidence Workshop

2009-07-02T14:15:00.004-07:00

The AZGS has released new earth fissure study area maps. New earth fissure maps showing confirmed and unconfirmed earth fissures for Harquahala, Maricopa County, and the Friendly Corners, Tator Hills and Signal Peak areas of Pinal County are complete. The 1:24,000 scale maps can be downloaded free at the Arizona Geological Survey’s (AZGS) Earth Fissure Center (http://azgs.az.gov/efmaps). For interactive viewing and custom map-making at up to 1:12,000 scale, visit the Arizona Department of Real Estate’s Earth Fissure Viewer at http://azmap.org/fissures.

Also of note is the Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop in August - the infromation below is from Brian Conway of ADWR:

I wanted to remind everyone again about the upcoming AHS Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop. I am still accepting abstracts and need at least three more talks to attempt to fill the full day workshop. I also want to remind you to register for the workshop whether you will be presenting or attending; either way you will have to pay for the workshop. I was also wondering if anyone would be interested on giving a presentation about the Arizona Land Subsidence Group. Here is the information about the workshop:

Arizona Hydrological Society

American Institute of Hydrology

2009 Annual Water Symposium

Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop

Sunday, August 30th, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Scottsdale, Arizona

Westin Kierland Resort and Spa

Abstracts should be 250 words or less and include title, authorship, and affiliations. Please include a brief biographical sketch of the primary author(s) and indicate that the abstract is for the Land Subsidence and Earth Fissure Workshop. Please submit abstracts no later than July 30th.

Abstracts must be submitted electronically to: hydrosymposium@a6consultants.com

Please copy Brian Conway (Workshop Moderator) on the email for the abstract submittal: bdconway@azwater.gov

If you have questions about the workshop, please contact:

Brian Conway
Arizona Department of Water Resources
602.771.1517
bdconway@azwater.gov

Next Meeting: Thursday June, 11 - AEG President Mark Molinari

2009-06-05T10:50:00.003-07:00

The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that our next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at Pizzeria Uno in Tempe. The social hour begins at 6 PM dinner is usually around 7 PM and the talk will begin shortly after dinner. The presentation topic is "Practical Applications of Airborne LiDAR Data for Environmental and Engineering Geology Projects" presented by Mark Molinari, L.G. Mr. Molinari is the 2009 AEG President and we are happy to have him in from Washington. Hope to see you all there! Thanks to Yellow Jacket Drilling for sponsorship!

Please RSVP to Pancho Garza, by Monday, June 8, 2009.

2) Don’t forget. It's time for elections to happen once again.

So, nominations are open - I've listed the responsibilities of officers below. I have agreed to return as Chair, Pancho Garza has agreed to return as Vice-Chair. Ben Ciampa has agreed to return as Treasurer and Gregg Mitchell has agreed to return as Student Liaison. The non-utilized Field Trip Coordinator is currently vacant, but not terribly important - Pancho is currently picking up those duties with a planned field trip later this summer.

This leaves the position of Secretary. Unfortunately, Heather Hespeler cannot continue in this role. Thankfully, Bonnie Whitley with GTI has agreed to take over.

So, if you want to nominate yourself or someone else (hopefully with their knowledge) for any position, go ahead - but we do currently have people in place to fill the roles that need filling.

The elections will be at our next meeting on Thursday evening. Most likely they will be voice vote unless we have multiple candidates and need a more private way.

Chair – coordinate officer duties liaison with national, attend AEG Board meetings, and manage preparation of annual report including financial report. Coordinate meeting sponsorship and Arizona Section website. Prepare newsletter.

Vice Chair – coordinate speakers and topics for all meetings, have discussions with members to see what kind of topics they are interested in hearing about, and help out with meeting setup

Treasurer – manage chapter’s bank account, collect/deposit/manage money collected at meetings/events, and prepare annual financial report.

Student Liaison – correspond with students at U of A, ASU, NAU, and organize student night.

Secretary – coordinate meeting locations and food, send out meeting announcements, receive and tally RSVP’s.

Field Trip Coordinator – organize at least one field trip per year for AZ AEG members and anyone else interested.

Things of Note

2009-06-05T10:40:00.002-07:00

I've been rather quite around here for the past few weeks, so below are some links to catch you (and me) up with some happenings that may be of interest (as usual, the excellent blog, Arizona Geology is a huge source).

ADWR has updated its subsidence website with 2009 data.

Arizona Religous Liberties Bill is gaining national exposure.

Renewable Energy Land Rush

Rosemont mine reclamation plan available

Geothermal in Arizona

Take a survey aimed at improving the AEG Website

Random Geo-Links

2009-05-15T12:50:00.006-07:00

I've been out of touch for the last week, and there are few things of interst out there. Enjoy.

Moab tailings removal begins

State Land Comissioner resigns

3.1M earthquake near Black Canyon City

Renewable energy office coming to Arizona

Check out Arizona Geology for other interesting news

Southwest Geotechnical Conference wrap-up (unfortunately, I had to miss this one)

And finally, a cool video of a culvert failure. This was sent to me via email and I don't really have a source to credit - so if you know where it came from, let me know. Edit: Thanks to the commenter who did the research for me ;) - The video was captured by MWTW.com photojournalist Kevyn Fowler in Freeport, Maine.

Mid-Year BOD Meeting Summary

2009-05-15T12:47:00.001-07:00

ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL & ENGINEERING GEOLOGISTS (AEG)
Annual Board of Directors Meeting Summary

The Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG) Directors convene meetings biannually to review the status and conduct the business of our organization. On April 17th and 18th, 2009, the Board of Directors (BOD) Mid-Year Board Meeting was in session in Seattle, Washington, the President’s city of residence. Detailed meeting minutes were prepared and will be available for approval at the next Annual Board Meeting, which will take place in South Lake Tahoe, California, September 26-27, 2009. The following summary was prepared to assist our Directors in highlighting major issues and topic areas for communication to the general membership.

AEG has twenty-five (25) sections and five Executive Council members totaling thirty Directors. Nineteen (19) Section Chairpersons or their proxies were present along with the Executive Council (EC): President Molinari, Vice President/President-Elect Kreuger, Treasurer Hilton, Secretary Bauer, and Past-President Kuper, achieving the required majority present for a quorum. Chief Operating Officer Roland was also present, as were Governance Committee Chair Andrews, Finance Committee Chair Sofield, Strategic Planning Committee Chair Hale, Communications Committee Chair Shaw and other invited guests. Sections absent were Montreal, New England, New York-Philadelphia, Ohio River Valley, Southeastern, and Southern Nevada.

· President Molinari discussed his Section visits, and told the Board that he would report back to them after discussing the Jahns Lecturer Selection with GSA.

· Treasurer Hilton reported that the IRS accepted AEG’s request to change the fiscal year from July-June to January-December, starting January 1st, 2009, which means AEG has to file a tax return for the short year of July-December 2008. The accountant-audited financials for the fiscal year 07-08 will be available at the end of April 2009 and our taxes are due May 15th. He also reported that our investments, down around 6%, are doing much better than the overall stock market, due to our conservative investment strategy which is consistent with prior BOD direction.

· The 2008 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA had a surplus of around $21,000.

· Chief Operating Officer Roland reported that our Year-to-date membership total is 2632 members, which is around 85% of the total for 2008. Staff members at headquarters are in the process of calling lapsed members, but Section cooperation is imperative to bringing these members back to AEG.

· Sections that have access to lists of State Licensees are asked to send these lists to Headquarters for membership solicitation.

· Communications Committee Chair Allen Shaw discussed the print media of AEG. He asked that Sections ask their members to submit technical papers or case studies to the Environmental &Engineering Geoscience Journal. There will be several papers in a future issue of the journal by speakers at the Shlemon Specialty Conference on Fault Rupture that was held in Southern California in February 2009, and there is also the potential for a Special Publication from the conference proceedings and papers. Allen would like to increase advertising in the AEG NEWS in order to add more color photos and enhance the quality of the publication.

· Website Committee member Dale Andrews reported on ideas about the website revision. He emphasized the need for the website to be a living document and for the Board to consider how it will be continually updated after revision.

· In addition to presenting Finance Committee report, the Finance Committee Chair, Darrell Sofield, reminded the Board of its fiscal responsibilities and how the committee helps to meet those responsibilities. He then stated that without a Treasurer’s report or a fiscal report that compares the actual financials to the budget, the FC could not do its job. “With out those reports, you can’t tell if the budget was met,” Darrell said. The FC suggested that the BOD develop a policy on procedures for financial reporting including procedures for comparing the budget to the actual money spent and a discussion section for items where considerable difference was noted between the budget and actual money spent. The EC has already begun implementing the FC’s suggestions in the 2009 budget, as the budget and actual financials will be broken into quarters for easier comparison, and dissemination to the FC and BOD.

· Sofield also made a request to members of the current BOD to join the committee. After waiving the 30-day notice, the Board approved by blind vote Mary Kay Markunas and Niall Henshaw as Finance Committee members.

· 2009 Annual Meeting Co-chair Gary Luce reported that planning for the Annual Meeting in South Lake Tahoe is going well. COO Roland will distribute the PowerPoint presentation to Section Chairs for promotion at Section meetings. President Molinari will send the Board information on the Outstanding Environmental and Engineering Geology Award after the selection committee makes a decision.

· Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) Chair Paul Hale gave an update on some of his sub-committees.

o Advocacy committee has been working on gathering information on the photos they received from the photo contest they hosted, is developing one page technical information flyers, and is considering making a short movie promoting the profession.
o Student/Young Professional Support Committee has been busy with the Visiting Professionals Program, Section Champions/Student Liaison coordination, the Facebook page (New Geologist), the Student Chapter application template, a Student Welcome Packet, and planning a pre-Ice Breaker event at the Annual Meeting to connect students and professionals.
o Section/Chapter Support Committee is finalizing an Officers’ Handbook for Section Officers and conducting a survey of Section Chairs to find out where they need help.

· The SPC contracted with Creativity @ Work to conduct a member survey and internal and external interviews. The results were used to direct the Strategic Planning workshop, which was held April 17th in Seattle, the Friday before the Board meeting. During the workshop, the attendees defined the areas of concern regarding the future of AEG. Now the SPC will work on a new Strategic Plan and will present it at the 2009 Annual Board Meeting.

· During lunch each Section was asked to answer three questions: 1) What is working for your Section? 2) How is the economy affecting the Section and its members? 3) What committee(s) are you on or would you like to be on? Answers will be posted with the minutes of the meeting.

· The Board discussed the Joint Task Force on Areas of Practice (JTFAP) Guidance document during the MYBM. There was considerable concern that the document in its current condition does not effectively represent our professional practice and its intended use and purpose remains unclear. Although a vote was not called for, an informal blind straw poll was conducted asking if the document should: 1) stop, 2) proceed with the input and guidance of AEG on a broader basis, or 3) proceed as a publication solely published by AEG. Two abstained, 20 thought AEG should proceed on a broader basis, and 1 thought we should proceed with a publication published solely by AEG.

o President Molinari requested creating an ad hoc committee. The BOD concurred, stipulating the following committee make-up guidelines:
1. Minimum of 3 members from Western US, minimum of 2 members from Mid-west/Eastern US, plus two current JTF committee members
2. Minimum of 5 members are current or former board members
3. Strive to include at least one member of AEG Licensure Committee
4. Strive to include at least one member who has been or is included on State Licensure Board
5. Range of 7-10 members
o The Ad-hoc Committee’s charge will be to:
1. Review and summarize member comments about the document
2. Consult with Mark Molinari after he obtains feedback from AIPG and Geo-Institute (after June 15 deadline) regarding how they intend to proceed and invite to forum if appropriate
3. Make recommendations for action and direction of the document
4. Present recommendations to the membership one month before the Annual Meeting
5. Have a discussion forum at the 2009 Annual Meeting assuming the document goes forward with the other groups
6. Work with CA, OR, WA and other licensure boards

· The Spring Shlemon Conference was a great success and had an approximate surplus of $12,000. The selection committee is looking for proposals for future conferences, beginning next year.

· President Molinari discussed the progress of the future Annual Meetings.
o 2010 – Charleston, SC
o 2011 – Anchorage, AL - AEG will need to help with the planning of this meeting
o 2012 – Salt Lake City, UT
o 2013 – Seattle, WA

· The Board decided it would like to post each AEG NEWS issue online when it is mailed and to allow public access for current and past issues.

· Governance Committee (GC) Chair Dale Andrews reviewed the GC’s summary of observations from the 2008 Annual Board Meeting. He also presented three Conflict of Interest templates for the board to decide among, in order to comply with IRS requirements. The board decided to have an attorney review all three statements and work with the GC and EC to finalize a version for Board approval at the 2009 Annual Board Meeting.

· Andrews also presented a template for Sections to use for meeting announcements, which will be posted under the Section/Chapter Support documents on the website.

· The GC compared the governance structure of AEG with other similar organizations and presented potential options for AEG. The Board discussed AEG’s current governance structure and decided that it is effective, but feels that the GC should look into other options including the proposed options of Delegates and Regionalization as well as define performance measures and ways to measure efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of the Association in its current structure.

· Treasurer Hilton presented the Fiscal Year 2009 budget, which covers from January-December 2009, to the board, emphasizing the major changes from the FY08/09 budget. Items such as reduced printing in the coming year, increased advertising/sponsorship efforts, and membership drives are essential to achieve/exceed this budget and allow the use of discretionary funds. The Board approved the budget as presented.

· The Board discussed the pros and cons of online vs. print publications. Through straw vote, the Board’s order of priority for electronic publication is 1) E&EG Journal (21 votes); 2) AEG News (14 votes); 3) Directory (5 votes); and 4) Abstracts with Programs (0 votes). Members will be asked for their priority in a demographics survey that will be included with their membership renewals.

· The Board discussed ways to retain and recruit members; each Director/Section Chair pledged to recruit a certain number of members by the 2009 Annual Meeting. Look for our goal to be posted and progress to be tracked as part of the membership drive.

· Director Metz offered a free frequent flyer ticket to any member who recruited the most members before the 2009 Annual Meeting.

· The Board approved changes to certain By-laws to account for the change in fiscal year to a calendar year.

· The Board approved a template for a Memorandum of Understanding between AEG and Sections proposing to host a future Annual Meeting.

· Two Student Chapters were approved by the Board: The College of Charleston and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

· The Board approved by blind vote a nominee to be included on the Executive Council ballot as Secretary for 2009/2010. This nomination is not a final result, but places this candidate on the mailed ballot; the election results will be presented at the AEG Business Luncheon in Tahoe in September.

· COO Roland summarized the report that the AEG Foundation (AEGF) submitted. The AEGF would like to work closely with the EC to establish one committee for the Lemke and Corporate Sponsor scholarships for students at the Annual Meeting. It would like to look at ways to support un- or underemployed members. It is supporting color photos in the E&EG, but would like for AEG to find a way for this to be self-sustaining.

· PowerPoint slides on the AEGF are available for Section Chairs to have at their Section meetings.

· President Molinari discussed AEG submitting a proposal to IAEG at the 2010 meeting to host the 2014 meeting, and reminded the Board that this meeting would replace AEG’s Annual Meeting that year, and would be an IAEG meeting, not a joint meeting.

· The next Board of Directors meeting is on September 26th and 27th in South Lake Tahoe, CA.

Short Course: Expanding Geological Practice: New Areas & Methods

2009-05-15T12:45:00.001-07:00

Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists
Inland Empire Chapter, Southern California Section, May 15, 2009

Re: Distribution of Brochure for Annual Short Course

Dear AEG Members and Attendees:

The brochure for the AEG-Inland Empire Chapter Annual Short Course is attached here.

"Expanding Geological Practice: New Areas & Methods”

Eight speakers will present talks in two technical areas:

· Site Investigation Survey Methods: GPS-GIS, InSAR, LiDAR

· State of Environmental Practice: Climate change, solid waste management, SWPP, Current Trends & Development

Location: UC-RiversideEXTENSIONCENTER , Riverside , CA

Date: Friday 12-June, 2009

For more details see attached brochure or go to:
http://www.aegsc.org/chapters/inlandempire/shortcourses/

- Kerry Cato, Inland Chapter Chair

Shlemon Specialty Conference on Advancing New Madrid Region Time-History Determination

2009-05-15T12:44:00.003-07:00

Shlemon Specialty Conference on

ADVANCING NEW MADRID REGION
TIME-HISTORY DETERMINATION

To be held at the
FogelmanExecutiveCenter, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
Wednesday – Friday, June 3 – 5, 2009

FOR HOTEL RESERVATIONS….

FogelmanExecutiveConferenceCenter
330 Innovation Drive
Memphis, TN 38152
901-678-3700

Block of rooms reserved for the nights of
June 2, 3 and 4, 2009

Rate: $85.00/night

ABSTRACT SUBMITTAL:

Abstract submittal has been extended to May 15. To submit your abstract, go to the following link:
http://www.aegweb.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=4634

PROPOSED SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Preconference Tours of CERI and the USGSPublicEarthquakeResourceCenter, if there is sufficient interest.
Hotel Registration for those staying at FogelmanExecutiveCenter

12 Noon to 12:45 PM - Conference Registration

1:00 – 5:00 PM Conference Opening,
Martitia Tuttle (USGS, Memphis, TN), Geological Record of Ancient Earthquakes in the Central US,
Gail Atkinson (University of WesternOntario), Characteristics of ground motions in inactive regions and associated constraints on time history methods, and
Discussion Panel and/or Submitted Presentations and/or Submitted Poster Session

5:30 – 6:30 PM Ice Breaker, included in registration (dinner on your own)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
8:30 – 11:30 AM Conference Announcements,
Rob Williams (USGS, Golden, CO), Shear-wave velocity structure in the Central US,
Dominic Assimaki (Georgia Tech), Nonlinear site response in ground motion predictions, and
Discussion Panel and/or Submitted Presentations and/or Submitted Poster Session

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Lunch Provided

1:00 – 5:00 PM Conference Announcements,
Jack Baker (StanfordUniversity), Active Region Time History Selection/Generation Approaches,
Chris Cramer (CERI, University of Memphis), Central & Eastern US Time History Selection/Generation Approaches, and
Discussion Panel and/or Submitted Presentations and/or Submitted Poster Session

Dinner on your own

Friday, June 5, 2009
8:30 AM – Noon Conference Announcements,
Reginald DesRoches (Georgia Tech), Engineering Applications and Issues for the Central US,
Discussion Panel and/or Submitted Presentations and/or Submitted Poster Session, and
Conference Closing.

Post-conference Tours of CERI and the USGSPublicEarthquakeResourceCenter, if there is sufficient interest.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact: Oliver Boyd (olboyd@usgs.gov) or Greg Hempen (Greg_Hempen@urscorp.com).

REG Review Cources

2009-04-30T09:18:00.002-07:00

SUMMER 2009 REVIEW COURSES for the ASBOG® GEOLOGY LICENSING EXAM

The Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG) is pleased to announce the Summer, 2009 series of review courses for the ASBOG® geology licensing exam taught by REG REVIEW, Inc. AEG and REG REVIEW, Inc. have partnered to provide these courses since 1992. In the Summer of 2009, twelve one-day review courses will be offered in regionally throughout the U.S., these twelve courses will be spread out into the following regions, the Pacific Northwest, the Southeast, the Central East Coast, the Northeast, the North Central, the Central Midwest, the Central West, as well as the regular Northern and Southern California locations. Specific locations are listed below.

REG REVIEW, Inc students typically have a pass rate that is 20% to 25% higher then the National average. Our success rate was between 90% and 95% on both exams for the past few administrations of the exam. The National pass rate during the same time was 55% to 60% for the FG and 69% to 74% for the PG. With the current state of the economy, can you afford not to pass the exam the first time you take it?

Course dates and locations are as follows:

(For more specific location information please go to our website at http://regreview.com/summer2009courselocations.html)

Eastern US Courses - Summer, 2009

2009SEUS-2 - Atlanta, GA, July 17, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009SEUS-3 - Jacksonville, FL, July 18, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009NEUS-2 - Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009CEUS-2 - Raleigh, NC, August 2, 2009, 8am to 4pm

Western US Courses - Summer, 2009

2009PNW-2 - Seattle, WA, July 22, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009NC-2 - Oakland, CA, July 23, 2009, 8am to 4pm (ASBOG® Portion)July 24, 2009, 8am to 10:30am (California Supplemental Portion)
2009SC-2 - Santa Ana, CA, July 24, 2009, 6pm to 8:30pm (California Supplemental Portion)July 25, 2009, 8am to 4pm (ASBOG® Portion)
2009SWUS-1 - Phoenix, AZ, July 26, 2009, 8am to 4pm

Central US Courses - Summer, 2009

2009CUS-2 - Nashville, TN, August 1, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009NCUS-1 - Minneapolis, MN, August 6, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009NCUS-2 - Chicago, IL, August 7, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009SCUS-2 - Austin, TX, August 8, 2009, 8am to 4pm
2009CWUS-1 - Denver, CO, August 9, 2009, 8am to 4pm

California Courses are $535 for AEG members, $550 for nonmembers.

ASBOG® Courses are $445 for AEG members, $460 for nonmembers.

Preregistration deadlines for the Summer, 2009 courses are a postmark date of June 26, 2009 for all Eastern US courses, July 3, 2009 for the Western US courses, and July 16, 2009 for the Central US courses.

Included in the course price are the set of Study Manuals pertinent to the exams you are taking and a packet of course notes that we have developed to present material that is new to the exams. The course notes are only available to our students.

REG Review, Inc. has been teaching these courses in California since 1985. In March 2000, we began to direct our teaching towards the ASBOG® geology licensing exam. The pass rate for students in classes since 2000 has ranged from 85 to 99%. The courses are taught by Patti Sutch, California PG 3949, CEG1641, and CHG 25, Lisa Dirth, California PG 3951, CEG 1240, and North Carolina RG by ASBOG exam, and Elisabeth Ervin-Blankenheim, Pennsylvania PG and past student of REG REVIEW.

Current information on study manuals, flash cards, and courses, including specific locations, may be found online on REG REVIEW, Inc's website at http://regreview.com To contact REG REVIEW Inc.: e-mail - regreview@aol.com, mailing address - 178 Bowles Rd, Newbury, NH 03255 , telephone - East Coast call Lisa Dirth at603-763-3272, (fax)603-763-3341. West Coast (evenings) Patti Sutch at 916-456-4870.Please pass this information on to any geologist that you know is taking the state licensure examinations.

Thanks.

-- Lisa DirthREG REVIEW

178 Bowles Rd

Newbury NH 03255

603-763-3272f

ax 603-763-3341

34th Southwest Geotechnical Conference

2009-04-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

ADOT and the FHWA are sponsoring the 34th Southwest Geotechnical Conference to be held at Phoenix on May 11-14. Please distribute the information to the ASCE Geotechnical Engineers as a reminder. You can find all the details on our website:

http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Materials/Geotech_Design/Announcement.asp