Various positions | Portland Water Bureau | Portland, OR
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Environmental Technician II
The City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) is seeking an Environmental Technician II to join the Industrial Permitting Program. The Industrial Permitting Program is responsible for protecting the City’s publicly owned treatment works, ensuring compliance with the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) waste discharge permit, protecting the health and safety of the public, city personnel, and the environment, and ensuring industrial users maintain compliance with their Industrial Waste Discharge Permits (IWDPs). The Industrial Permitting Program issues and manages over 120 IWDPs and an additional 300 industry Alternative Discharge Control Mechanisms (ADCM).
The Environmental Technician II’s primary responsibility is managing the compliance of local industries that discharge industrial wastewater to the City’s sanitary sewer system through IWDPs and other control mechanisms. The management of IWDPs entails conducting inspections, reviewing industry analytical and compliance reports, evaluating permit compliance, data entry, and leading enforcement actions as needed. On an annual basis, incumbents in this position spend approximately 25-30% of their time in the field. This position will work as a member of the Industrial Permitting Program team and collaborate with other programs, including field operations, laboratory, industrial stormwater, FOG, and spill response programs.
What you’ll get to do:
- Manage approximately 25 Industrial Waste Discharge Permits
- Analyze and review IWDP application materials for permit issuance
- Conduct thorough inspections of industries, ensuring all areas with waste streams or potential waste streams are evaluated for compliance with permit requirements and City code and rules.
- Draft, issue, and follow up on all enforcement actions to ensure permit compliance
- Perform data entry and management using the City’s LINKO database
- Assist with sanitary sewer system incident investigations as assigned.
- Apply basic biological, chemical, and physical principles and your knowledge of industrial processes and wastewater pollutants throughout your work.
- Evaluate wastewater pollutant treatment systems
- Manage difficult situations with industry representatives in a positive manner
- Effectively communicate with internal and external customers professionally, including the City’s Enforcement, FOG, Laboratory, and Field Operations staff.
Water Treatment Operator I
The Water Treatment Operator (WTO) I position is in the Operations Group of the Portland Water Bureau. This position assists in operating and maintaining the City’s potable water treatment facilities and systems associated with the Bull Run Supply. These responsibilities must be carried out in compliance with federal, state, and local requirements. In addition, the Water Treatment Operator I position assists in operating and maintaining the infrastructure that enables raw water to be diverted as part of meeting obligations under the Bull Run Water Supply Habitat Conservation Plan and assists in completing inspections and collecting samples associated with meeting the requirements of the Bull Run Treatment Variance.
Under General supervision, Water Treatment Operator I’s perform a combination of technical and mechanical duties in the ongoing operation and maintenance of the water treatment system. The Water Treatment Operator I position is a training position within the Water treatment Operator series. This position works alongside and assists Water treatment Operator II’s.
Upon gaining the essential skills, qualifying experience, and required Water Treatment certification with the Oregon Health Authority, the WTO I move to the Water Treatment Operator II classification through a Classification Action & Position Request (CAPR) process.
Typical duties for this role include:
- Assists with and learns to collect water samples and analyze for appropriate physical and chemical dosages and feed rates; assists with and learns to calculate chemical dosages and feed rates and adjust appropriately.
- Assists with and learns to monitor water treatment system through electronic and computerized systems; learns to make adjustments in water flow and corresponding chemical adjustments; assists with and learns to operate treatment process facilities on assigned shift.
- Assists with and learns to respond to emergency alarms, isolating problem area and taking immediate corrective action to resolve the problem within established federal and state regulations; assists with and learns to test emergency equipment on established schedule to ensure constant emergency preparedness.
- Assists with and learns to maintain the operational integrity of the water treatment facilities through daily inspection and identification of needed repair and maintenance.
- Assists with and learns to conduct preventive and general maintenance on a variety of small and large equipment and specialized instrumentation such as valves, pumps, chlorine residual analyzers, pH meters, turbidimeters, generators, fuel systems, conduit pipes, and various compressed gas systems.
- Learns to use computer technology to record water sample data and transmit to other offices, such as water quality and regulatory compliance laboratory.
- Responds to calls to work during emergencies. 8. Performs related duties as assigned.
