Ask the Expert
by Mike McGinness
Here is some of Mr. McGinness' experience in wastewater treatment and related areas:
Mr. McGinness has 27 years of combined experience in industrial metal finishing process chemistry, waste water treatment processes, chemistry and environmental regulatory compliance. He has been an independent environmental compliance consultant for 15 years with his own company, Custom Process Systems & Service Company, working principally in the areas of hazardous waste water treatment, discharge, and pollution prevention process control of solvent and water based cleaning processes. He has earned two US patents, as well two U.S. Department of Energy, Innovative Concepts, Process Development and Demonstration Grants, and has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston. Mr. McGinness is currently the V.P. of Technology and Co-Founder of EcoShield Environmental Systems, Inc.
( http://www.ecoshieldenv.com )
He has been a guest speaker at numerous events sponsored by the TNRCC, EPA, NASA, DOE and other industry groups. He has extensive writing and editorial credits in the pollution prevention and treatment field (many of his papers are available at no charge on line at http://www.ecoshieldenv.com/white.htm including the US DOE Grant final reports) and he has served as the LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) Chairman for the City of South Houston since 1991. He has also been a member of the following Professional and Environmental organizations during his career which has helped give him a wide perspective on various environmental issues.
Professional Affiliations and Activities
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
American Chemical Society
American Electroplaters and Surface Finishers Society
American Filtration Society
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
American Society of Safety Engineers
American Water Works Association
ASM International
Clean Houston Recycling Council (Long Range 'Issues’ Committee)
Coating Society of Greater Houston
Construction Specifications Institute
Emergency Management Association of Texas (Founding Member)
Galveston Bay Foundation
Greater Houston Environmental Coalition
Institute of Environmental Sciences
Institute of Industrial Engineers
International Maintenance Institute
International Ozone Association
National Association of Corrosion Engineers
National Association of Professional Engineers
National Water Well Association
Sierra Club
Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Society of Plastics Engineers
South Houston Local Emergency Planning Committee (Chairman)
Steel Structures Painting Council
Texas Hazardous Waste Management Society (Newsletter Committee)
Texas Water Utilities Association
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society
The Planetary Society
Waste Water Analysts Association
Water Pollution Control Federation
Patents
U. S. Patent # 5,593,598, Jan. 14, 1997, Method and Apparatus for Closed Loop Recycling of Contaminated Cleaning Solution.
U. S. Patent # 5,776,351, Method for Regeneration and Closed Loop Recycling of Contaminated Cleaning Solution, July 7, 1998.
International Patent(s) Pending Application # PCT/US01/11464, Entitled: Universal Method and Apparatus for Conversion of Volatile Compounds, April 4, 2000.
Grants
U.S. Department of Energy Grant # DE-FG51-94R020442, Oct. 1, 1992.
U.S. Department of Energy Grant # DE-SG51-92R020095, Sept. 1, 1994.
Publications
Safety: What You Can Learn from Material Safety Data Sheets, Journal of Protective Coatings and Linings, by Mike McGinness, Debbie Mericle, Gary Philips, and Archie Slaughter, Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec., 1988, Vol.5, No. 12.
Safety Considerations for Abrasive Blasting Operations, Journal of Protective Coatings and Linings, by Mike McGinness, Walter Schuler and Jeff Theo, Pittsburg, Pa., April, 1989, Vol.6, No.4.
The Collected SSPC Applicator Training Bulletins from 1988-1992, by members of The Coatings Society of the Houston Area, Technology Publishing Co., 1992.
Hazardous Waste Regulations - A Handbook for the Automotive Business, Texas Water Commission, 1988. Reviewer )
Minimizing Waste in Automotive Spray Washers Using Ozone and Electrolysis, in Proceedings of Waste Stream and Utilization Innovative Concepts An Experimental Technology Exchange, by Mike McGinness, Austin, Texas, Lee, V.E., Ed., Vol. 2, pp.3.1-3.7, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Wash,. PNL-SA-22193 Vol.2 (April 22-23, 1993)
Regenerating Used Aqueous Cleaners with Ozone and Electrolysis, Proceedings of the Fourth National Technology Conference and Exposition, by Mike McGinness, Anaheim, Calif., Vol. 1, pp. 241-247, NASA Conference Publication #3249, Technology Utilization Foundation, N.Y. (Dec. 7-9, 1993).
Ozonation and Electrolysis for Regeneration of Aqueous Cleaning Solutions Through Advanced Oxidation of Oils and Greases, Proceedings of the 1994 New England Environmental EXPO, by Mike McGinness, Boston, MA, (April 26-27, 1994).
Participating Editor for a new edition of the "Hazardous Waste Management at Waste Water Treatment Plants", Water Environment Federation (Previously the Water Pollution Control Federation), 1994.
Closed Loop Recycling of Aqueous Cleaning System Rinse Waters Using Reverse Osmosis, Ozone and Electrolysis, Final Technical Report for the period September 1994 - May 1995, by Mike McGinness, for the United States Department of Energy, under U.S. DOE Grant # DE-FG5-94R020442.
Participating Editor for a new edition of the "Pretreatment of Industrial Wastes Manual of Practice- MOP FD-3" of the Water Environment Federation (Previously the Water Pollution Control Federation), 1994.
A Novel New Approach to VOC and HAP Emission Control, Proceedings of the Industrial Energy Technology Conference, by Mike McGinness, April 5, 2000, Houston, Texas.
New Technology: Recycling Spent Cleaners Via Ozonolysis, by Mike McGinness, Parts Cleaning Magazine, September 2000, pp.22-27.
EPA Proposes Strict MP&M Effluent Guidelines, by Mike McGinness, Parts Cleaning Magazine, March 2001, pp. 24-27.
Achieving P4 Goals Using Ozone Reaction Chemistry and Dynamic Surface Tension Measurement in a New Process Control Scheme to Form Steady State Cleaning Processes, by Mike McGinness, Conference Proceedings of CleanTech 2001, Chicago, IL., May 22, 2001.