Bill Magowan

A little more than a year ago, Bill Magowan, senior program director of Earth Tech's federal emergency-response services, was shopping for tires in the Tidewater area when a television behind the store counter showed pieces of NASA's space shuttle Columbia falling from the sky.

"Almost immediately, my cell phone started to ring," Magowan recalled.Within hours he had responded to the EPA's request to begin planning a massive interstate search for the remains of the shuttle.

In addition to 40 emergency-response workers from Earth Tech's staff, Magowan and project manager Carl Duffy assembled 60 workers trained to identify and process hazardous waste, about 4,000 U.S.
...
They would come out of the brush with snakes hanging from the pads," Magowan said.

"The guys were working 16- to 17-hour day shifts.I had to go down and stop them from working seven days a week because of the accidents that started happening.We were just under a lot of pressure because the government wanted answers to what went wrong," he said.

Magowan coordinates all emergency response operations from the Richmond office.
...
At one time, Magowan said, that rate was around 50 percent annually.

"These guys spend around 310 days a year in a hotel someplace and often work 10 hours a day, six days a week," he said.

They managed cleanup and retrieval after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.In fact, with just a day's notice, Earth Tech organized equipment and manpower to vacuum the entire financial district over a weekend to re-open Wall Street market operations.

"Joe West, project coordinator for the cleanup after the World Trade Center disaster, had to catch what sleep he could standing up in doorways," Magowan said.
...
"You really never know what to expect next," said Magowan.

A little more than a year ago, Bill Magowan, senior program director of Earth Tech's federal emergency-response services, was shopping for tires in the Tidewater area when a television behind the store counter showed pieces of NASA's space shuttle Columbia falling from the sky.

"Almost immediately, my cell phone started to ring," Magowan recalled.Within hours he had responded to the EPA's request to begin planning a massive interstate search for the remains of the shuttle.

In addition to 40 emergency-response workers from Earth Tech's staff, Magowan and project manager Carl Duffy assembled 60 workers trained to identify and process hazardous waste, about 4,000 U.S.
...
They would come out of the brush with snakes hanging from the pads," Magowan said.

"The guys were working 16- to 17-hour day shifts.I had to go down and stop them from working seven days a week because of the accidents that started happening.We were just under a lot of pressure because the government wanted answers to what went wrong," he said.

Magowan coordinates all emergency response operations from the Richmond office.
...
At one time, Magowan said, that rate was around 50 percent annually.

"These guys spend around 310 days a year in a hotel someplace and often work 10 hours a day, six days a week," he said.

They managed cleanup and retrieval after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.In fact, with just a day's notice, Earth Tech organized equipment and manpower to vacuum the entire financial district over a weekend to re-open Wall Street market operations.

"Joe West, project coordinator for the cleanup after the World Trade Center disaster, had to catch what sleep he could standing up in doorways," Magowan said.
...
"You really never know what to expect next," said Magowan.

The EPA's thinking was, 'How do we respond if it really happens?,' " said Bill Magowan, Earth Tech's senior program director for the Waste and Response Management group and their emergency and rapid response services contracts.