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If you haven't been under a rock for the past few months, you know the United States military is making plans to remove dictator Saddam Hussein from power. However standing between our troops and their mission objectives is Saddam's hidden stash of chemical and biological weapons. Our group has seen a presentation on the biological side of these wepons and will now be privileged to hear about chemical weapons. Our own Donald Thomas will provide us with a history of toxic chemical agents used for warfare. He will enlighten us as to the types of agents used, compare chemical and conventional weaponry, and relay to us the attitudes some political leaders had after the use of chemical weapons. Don will also provide an insight to the morality of even using chemical weapons.

Donald C. Thomas, P.E., is a consulting chemical engineer registered in the states of California, Tennessee, and West Virginia. He his a long time member of the Chattanooga Engineers Club.

March Invocation Chairperson: Richard Smith

Menu: Meatloaf, Cucumber salad, Pineapple casserole, Steamed corn, and Banana pudding

OUR PREVIOUS MEETING _________________________________________

Carrie Hunt and Martin Bourquin presented details about their removal of hazardous wastes from holding ponds located on W. R. Grace property in Chattanooga. The company they represent, the Grace Davison division of W.R. Grace & Co., is a global supplier of catalysts. According to their web site <<http://www.graceraney..com/welcomeraney.htm>>, their base metal Raney® products provide unmatched performance in the synthesis of organic compounds for the fibers, pharmaceuticals, plastics, perfumes, soaps, color couplers and the petroleum industries.

In the 1950's their company began processing Monazite Ore. In the 1980's the radioactive by-products were being stored in holding ponds. In the 1990's the pond sediment was dredged and placed in a silo for long term storage. Today, the ponds that were emitting radon have been removed and the area has been covered with grass. Phosphates still remain on site. Standing at the fence, the radon level is now close to background levels. They dug out the remaining pond sediment, filter pressed it, dried it, and shipped it to Envirocare of Utah for permanent storage. Envirocare's web site is << http://www.envirocareutah.com >>. They reused 150 rail cars stenciled "Class A" on all 4 sides until the 300 million pounds of dirt had been moved from the site to Utah. The project completed on time (2 years) and just under budget using 50 people, lots of protective equipment and testing, earth moving equipment, and 140,000 sheets of paper for the manifests that took 12,500 hours to fill out. If all the rail car loads of dirt had been lined up at one time, it would have created a 16 mile train, but they loaded only 5 rail cars per day. The company was able to reduce their hazardous waste bond amount by $150 million as a result of the pond removal.

Check our website at http://www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org for meeting summaries prior to last Monday.

A very special thanks to Judy Driggans for providing this meeting summary. For the complete meeting details please check http://www.chattanoogaengineersclub.org/MeetingMinutes/CECMinutes031003.pdf .

FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS ___________________________________

March 24: Update on Diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition Technology - Dale Bradshaw, TVA - Power Delivery Technologies

March 31: FIELD TRIP: NRC Technical Training Facility - Jan Griffin (Tour subject to terrorist threat level being YELLOW or below)

April 21: UTC Senior Design Projects

WHERE WE MEET _______________________________________________
Unless we note otherwise, all of our presentation meetings are held at the Cellar Restaurant in the Tallan Building, Union Square Downtown Chattanooga from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Our meeting room and luncheon service are open by 11:30 a.m. Lunch buffet is $10.00 per person (inclusive). No reservation is required. Free parking is available in the Days Inn Motel (on Carter St. and MLK Blvd,) courtesy of the Days Inn management. When you park there, be sure to place a note on your dashboard indicating you are attending the Engineers Club meeting.

QUESTIONS, SUGGESTIONS ? _____________________________________
If you have any questions or suggestions about program items please call Brad Baucom at 423-648-3582 or e-mail him at bradbaucom@comcast.net. You can find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site: www.ChattanoogaEngineersClub.org .