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

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

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

Enjoy!

Next Meeting - November 5th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!