On Thursday, March 3, 2022, the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) 25th Annual Environmental Conference opened after a one-year hiatus. The conference was held at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, and the hotel and casino didn't seem to change much, however, the Lodge had a new bar that was beautiful and was very peaceful. As usual, the service at the hotel/casino and the TS Steakhouse was personable and professional!
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| John from TS Steakhouse making the Gotham |
The conference began with opening remarks and a conference welcome from Craig Kaputa, PACNY's President, Kevin Hutton, PACNY's Vice President, and Deb Sanscrainte, of Aramsco, Inc., PACNY's Conference Chair. The first presentation, "Tribute to Past President - Chuck Kirch", was by Joe Cantone, Colden Corporation, it achieved the right balance of somber, respectful, and funny. Chuck Kirch passed away in November 2021. Brent Kynoch from the Environmental Information Association (EIA) invited us to become members of the EIA and then updated us on what's happening at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regarding asbestos and the "Draft Risk Evaluation of Asbestos - Part 2". The last presenter before the break was Mark Gonzales, of Cornerstone Training Institute, speaking about "Cannabis in the Workplace". Since the New York State Cannabis Law does not define the term "specific articulable symptoms." Mr. Gonzales discussed the difficulties with assessing employee impairment from cannabis use, however, it is evident that an employer can act against an employee unable to perform their job duties or who poses a safety hazard due to their use of cannabis. The break was to let the attendees go see the vendors in the exhibit hall and get some refreshments.
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| Refreshments with the Vendors in the Exhibit Hall |
After the break, the presentations began again with a virtual presentation by Tom Laubenthal, of AirQuest Environmental, Inc., on "Lead-Based Paint; EPA & Housing and Urban Development (HUD), A Review and Updates of Recent Changes in Rules". Mr. Laubenthal's presentation went through a host of lead regulations from EPA, HUD, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding Target Housing, Child-Occupied Facilities (both are based on pre-1978 construction), certifications, real estate transactions, and the different numbers and procedures for handling lead-based paint. The amazing part was that Mr. Laubenthal was able to fit his whole presentation within 45 minutes. Angelo Garcia, III, Future Environment Designs, Inc., was the last presentation before the lunch break. Mr. Garcia's presentation was on the "Trials & Tribulations of Training During a Pandemic" to see the presentation click on the link, which will take you to our dropbox folder on conference presentations (our presentation is in the 2022 PACNY Presentations folder). We discussed how the pandemic has affected our company and the training industry with supporting data from Ms. Karen Cummings, M.P.H., Director of the New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH's) Asbestos Safety Training Program, and Mr. Chek Beng Ng, P.E., Professional Engineer, of the New York State Department of Labor's (NYSDOL's) Engineering Services Unit (A Big Thank You to the both of you!). A buffet lunch was served in the Oneida Room. In our next post, we will discuss the presentations after lunch! Until then!
Thank you to Lynn Burlingham, of Cornerstone Training Institute, for taking the video and to Joe Cantone, Colden Corporation for taking the photo!
