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Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment (2007)

Chapter: Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
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Appendix C
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Elisabeth M. Drake, Chair, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, is currently retired. Prior to her retirement, she served as the associate director of the M.I.T. Energy Laboratory. Dr. Drake graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Sc.D. in chemical engineering. She has had considerable experience in risk management and communication; technology associated with the transport, processing, storage, and disposal of hazardous materials; and chemical engineering process design and control systems. Dr. Drake has a special interest in the interactions between technology and the environment and a comprehensive understanding of the chemical weapons demilitarization process. She has served on several NRC committees relating to chemical demilitarization.


Otis A. Shelton, Vice Chair, is associate director for the Safety & Environmental Services Compliance and Operational Assessments Program for Praxair Inc., a position he has held since 1992. In this position Mr. Shelton is responsible for managing Praxair’s assessment program that focuses on environmental, operational safety, personnel safety, industrial hygiene, emergency planning, distribution, and medical gases programs. Previously Mr. Shelton managed Union Carbide Corporation’s Regional Corporate Health, Safety, and Environmental Protection Audit program. This program reviewed UCC’s health, safety, and environmental compliance in all UCC’s operations worldwide. Mr. Shelton holds an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Houston, is serving as secretary of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and has served for 20 years as a member of the National Society of Black Engineers National Advisory Board.


James L. Bacon, P.E., is currently president and CEO of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, Arkansas. He most recently served in the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. Army as the program manager of the $25 billion program for the disposal of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons. Mr. Bacon received his master of science in engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1987. His career has consisted of 42 years of progressive project management and leadership of major engineering and environmental programs associated with chemical and biological weapons production, storage, and disposal. Mr. Bacon is a Life Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, a fellow and life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a member of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps Hall of Fame.


Robert L. Cattoi is a retired senior vice president of research, engineering, and manufacturing processes at Rockwell International Corporation. In November 1991 he was appointed chairman of the U.S. delegation to the International Steering Committee on Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS), whose goal is to systematize, standardize, and develop manufacturing science and technology to provide the basis for agile and intelligent manufacturing systems in the 21st century. Subsequently, Mr. Cattoi became the international chairman for this activity. Mr. Cattoi earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering with a physics minor from the University of Wisconsin. He is a past member of the Defense Science Board and is a member of the NRC Board on Army Science and Technology. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers.


Colin G. Drury is a University at Buffalo Distinguished Professor in Industrial and Systems Engineering, concentrating on the application of human factors techniques to manufacturing and maintenance processes. After receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, U.K., he was manager of ergonomics at Pilkington Glass. He has extensive publications on topics in industrial process control, quality control, aviation maintenance and safety, and is the North American editor of Applied Ergonomics. He was the founding executive director of the Center for Industrial Effective-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
×

ness. He is a fellow of four professional societies in human factors and is a certified professional ergonomist. Dr. Drury has served on several previous NRC studies related to chemical demilitarization.


J. Robert Gibson is currently an independent consultant in the field of toxicology and occupational safety and health. Dr. Gibson graduated from Mississippi State University with a Ph.D. in physiology, and he holds a master’s degree in zoology and a bachelor of science degree in general science from that same institution. After completing a postdoctoral research fellowship in pesticide metabolism at the University of Kentucky, he joined DuPont’s Haskell Laboratory for Toxicology and Industrial Medicine as a research toxicologist. During his 30-year career with DuPont, Dr. Gibson held management positions in R&D, chemical manufacturing, and corporate administration (corporate director of safety and health). He was also assistant director of DuPont’s Haskell Laboratory for Toxicology and Industrial Medicine. Dr. Gibson ended his DuPont career as a director in the Crop Protection Products Division in Wilmington, Delaware, in December 2001. He was board certified in toxicology by the American Board of Toxicology from 1980 through 2005. His numerous committee assignments include eight years of service on the NRC’s Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program (Stockpile Committee), which provided oversight for the U.S. Army’s chemical weapons disposal program. He was also a member of the NRC Committee on Evaluation of Chemical Events at Army Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities. Dr. Gibson is also the U.S. representative to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and is a member of the NRC standing Committee on Chemical Demilitarization.


David A. Hoecke is currently president and CEO of Enercon Systems Inc. He graduated from the Cooper Union with a B.S.M.E. His expertise is in the fields of waste combustion, pyrolysis, heat transfer, and gas cleaning. In 1960 he began working for Midland-Ross Corporation as a project engineer, rising to be its chief engineer for incineration by 1972. At that time he founded his own company, and he has since been responsible for the design and construction of numerous combustion systems, including solid waste incinerators, thermal oxidizers, heat recovery systems, and gas-to-air heat exchangers. Mr. Hoecke has considerable expertise in incineration technologies employed by the Army in its demilitarization of chemical weapons.


Peter B. Lederman has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan, and retired as executive director, Hazardous Substance Management Research Center and Executive Director, Office of Intellectual Property, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Roy Weston Inc., where he served for 13 years as a vice president and one of the leaders of the Hazardous Materials Management practice. He continues to teach environmental management, policy and site remediation. He is active as a consultant in the area of hazardous materials management. Dr. Lederman has over 50 years of broad experience in all facets of environmental management, control, and policy development; considerable experience in hazardous substance treatment and management; process design and development in the petrochemical industry; and over 18 years of experience as an educator. He has industrial experience as a process designer and managed the development of new processes through full-scale plant demonstrations. He is well known for his work as a professor in chemical process design. He led his company’s safety program in the early 1980s. Dr. Lederman is a registered professional engineer, registered professional planner, certified hazardous material manager, and a diplomate in environmental engineering. Dr. Lederman has also worked at the federal level (EPA) as a laboratory director and at state levels with particular emphasis on environmental policy. He is a national associate of the National Academies.


Charles I. McGinnis is currently an independent consultant in the realm of civil engineering. Previously he served in senior positions at the Construction Industry Institute in Austin, Texas. Retired from the U.S. Army as a major general, Mr. McGinnis has an M.E. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and is a registered professional engineer in Texas and Missouri. He was a former director of civil works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and also served as the director of engineering and construction for the Panama Canal Company and later as vice president of the company and lieutenant governor of the Panama Canal Zone. As director of civil works, he was responsible for a $3 billion-per-year planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance program of water-resource-oriented public works on a nationwide basis. He has considerable experience with engineering and construction as well as unique understanding of facilities maintenance and chemical weapons demilitarization, and he has served on several NRC study committees looking at chemical demilitarization.


A. Charles Rowney is currently an independent consultant practicing in the areas of information management and organizational management as related to the technologies and practices that enable technical communities to operate effectively within an enterprise. Past activities have included a background in knowledge and information management, and he is currently active in projects that have him interacting with Chief Information Officers and their counterparts across the United States and Europe as they deal with issues related to collaboration and interoperability. Dr. Rowney holds B.Sc., B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Ottawa. He has over 25 years experience in the engineering industry, and in that capacity has worked with

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
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clients and colleagues throughout North America (Canada and the United States) and Europe (France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, and England). Dr. Rowney has substantial experience in chemical agent remediation, as well as in water resources (he is a diplomate of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
×
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
×
Page 62
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2007. Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11849.
×
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The U.S. Army’s Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) currently oversees contracts for the operation of chemical agent stockpile incineration facilities at four disposal sites. Because the period of time required to dispose of these chemical agents has grown beyond that originally planned, the Army is becoming concerned about the possibility of growing operational problems as the processing equipment ages. To help address these concerns, the CMA requested the NRC to assess whether current policies and practices will be able to adequately anticipate and address facility obsolescence issues. This report presents a review of potential infrastructure and equipment weaknesses given that the facilities are being operated well beyond their original design lifetime; an assessment of the Army’s current and evolving obsolescence management programs; and offers recommendations about how the programs may be improved and strengthened to permit safe and expeditious completion of agent stockpile destruction and facility closure.

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