Jeri Covington joins Richardson Smith Gardner and Associates, Inc.

New hire bolsters RSG’s expertise in reducing the cost of solid waste management for municipalities

RALEIGH, N.C. – (January 18, 2011) - The solid waste engineering and consulting firm Richardson Smith Gardner & Associates, Inc. (RSG) has hired Jeryl Covington, P.E., the 11-year director of environmental services for the City of Greensboro, North Carolina.

RSG has been lowering solid waste disposal costs by developing and applying innovating technologies since it started in 1991. Now with the addition of Covington, the company says it can advise municipalities and companies about improvements to the business side of solid waste operations. “Because of her role in Greensboro, Jeri has dealt with as many challenges as anyone in the state,” says RSG President Stacey Smith, P.E. “She brings knowledge of day-to-day operations that we can’t necessarily see as “outside” engineers. This improves our ability to offer solutions that help solid waste groups accomplish their goals.”

As a project manager at RSG, Covington will help organizations optimize their waste management programs by evaluating waste streams and costs. “I empathize with clients and will target the development of strategies and products that are really useful and efficient and meet their budget needs,” says Covington

During her tenure with the City of Greensboro, she oversaw everything from budgets and environmental compliance to site selection for a new landfill/transfer station and trash collection from more than 65,000 households. Covington says, “I’ve been in the operator’s seat. I’ve looked at budgets. I’ve looked at duct-taped equipment. I can help clients figure out how to make it all work."

Covington has worked in the public and private sector since she graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in civil engineering.

Covington is passionate about supporting the industry, lending her leadership and knowledge to a wide range of organizations. She’s on the board of directors for the Solid Waste Association of North America, serving as chapter president in 2007 and 2009. She’s also on the board of the Sustainability Council’s Public Technologies Institute. Smith says, “We’re pleased to be able expand our services by hiring Jeri, because she has such a strong reputation among her peers as well as state agencies.

In the past she’s served on the board of the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, American Society of Civil Engineers, the Engineering Technology Advisory Board for Guilford Technical Community College and the board of the Communities in School of Greensboro.

For More Information Contact:

Mr. Stacey A. Smith, P.E.
President, RSG
(919) 828-0577, ext. 127
stacey@rsgengineers.com

GHG Permitting for Landfills put on Hold

According to a press release issued by the U.S. EPA on January 12, 2011, EPA is deferring greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting requirements for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from biomass-fired and other biogenic sources, including landfills.  EPA plans to complete a rulemaking in July 2011 that will defer permitting of CO2 emissions from these sources for three years.  During this time, EPA will consider the more than 7,000 comments received during July 2010, including whether burning of biomass results in a net increase in CO2 emissions.

EPA also plans to issue guidance to state and local permitting agencies that, during the three-year deferral period, the use of biomass as fuel, including landfill gas, constitutes Best Available Control Technology for GHG emissions.