Conference Opener
October 28, 2010 - 08:45-09:30
Mr. Carlos Pachon - US Environmental Protection Agency

Presentation: Emerging Trends in Reclamation and Sustainable Remediation

Mr. Pachon is Special Assistant to the EPA Administrator with a primary responsibility in the areas of site cleanup, waste, international activities, and compliance and enforcement.

Previously, he was with EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation where his work focused on providing technical site cleanup information to a wide range of audiences, from technically-savvy project engineers to important stakeholders such as concerned citizens.

Recent products include the Superfund report on the use of treatment technologies and the market study for treatment technologies in the United States. He also managed what has grown to be one of the nation's main references for technical information on site cleanup, http://cluin.org.


Conference Mid-Point
October 29, 2010 - 08:40-09:15
Dr. Peter G. Wells, BSc, MSc, PhD (Guelph), International Ocean Institute and Adjunct Professor, Marine Affairs Program - Dalhousie University

Presentation: The Gulf of Mexico Oil Blowout and Spill: Overview and Possible Implications for Coastal Regions of the Atlantic Region


Conference Closer
October 29, 2010 - 15:45-16:20
Dr. Ross F. McCurdy - Cape Breton University
Chief Operating Officer - Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment, Cape Breton University

Presentation: Reclamation: The Way Forward

Dr. McCurdy is Chief Operating Officer of the newly established Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment (CSEE) at Cape Breton University. The Centre will bring together world-class expertise with a research focus on innovation in mine water management, environmental remediation and emerging energy issues in a new, state-of-the-art green building. The CSEE will focus on innovation and prosperity, applying research to the development and commercialization of remediation, monitoring and clean energy technologies, including clean coal, geo-thermal, bio-fuels and mining the energy from the Sydney Coalfield.

Ross was formerly President and CEO of the Cape Breton Development Corporation, better known as DEVCO, and was instrumental in developing their environmental and remediation strategies, specifically upgrading heavy industrial mining sites to commercial and/or residential standards for the benefit of the various communities within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. He also served as President and CEO of InNOVAcorp, a provincial crown corporation mandated to help Nova Scotia companies commercialize new technologies; and Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Ocean Nutrition Canada, a global company head-quartered in Nova Scotia, innovating and supplying quality marine-based natural ingredients to the supplement and functional food markets. He has held senior positions with MDS, Fenwick Laboratories Limited and Victoria General Hospital (now QEII), Atlantic Canada's largest teaching hospital and was an associate professor at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Medicine as well as an adjunct professor at the Technical University of Nova Scotia.

Dr. McCurdy holds a Bachelor of Science from Saint Mary's University, Master's degrees in Public Health and in Science from the University of Minnesota, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Water Resources Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia. He chaired the NS Task Force on Productivity, Competitiveness & Economic Prosperity and Chaired the Independent Review of Public Concerns of Radon & Uranium at the Proposed New Landfill Site in HRM. He was Chair of the Arthritis Society of Nova Scotia and the Leadership Chair, Metro Halifax United Way. He is currently a member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation Board of Directors and the Cape Breton University Board of Governors. .