Roane State Community College

Overview

Environmental technicians ensure compliance with environmental laws, properly manage hazardous wastes, conduct sampling and analysis of environmental media and waste, perform health and safety audits and inspections, and perform other activities to protect public health and the environment.

Common job titles filled by EHT graduates include: environmental compliance officer, radcon technician, industrial hygiene technician, health and safety officer, waste management technician, and environmental sampling technician.

Students completing the EHT program earn certification for OSHA’s training requirement for 29 CFR 1910.120 for 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response.

Program Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• identify different types of environmental professionals and their work practices.
• define and describe basic biological concepts and the chemical composition of matter.
• explain the cycling of nutrients in an ecosystem, identify biomes and infer how human activity affects the natural environment and public health.
• identify proper waste management requirements and be able to accurately make a hazardous waste determination, properly characterize the waste based on its properties, and assign the proper waste code.
• anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control physical, chemical, and biological hazards in the workplace through application of OSHA standards and prescribed practice.
• discuss roles played by federal, state, and local environmental regulatory agencies.
• explain the legal and ethical responsibilities to protect human health and the environment and the consequences of non-compliance.

Location

Classes are taught at the main campus in Harriman, the Oak Ridge Campus and on an as-needed basis at other Roane State campuses.

Accreditation

There are no accrediting agencies for associate’s degree programs in Environmental Health Technology. The EHT program at Roane State Community College meets all standards of the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center and all requirements for associate of applied science programs of the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Work Settings

Many EHT graduates support environmental management and restoration activities on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Other opportunities exist in private consulting, industrial facilities, waste treatment and disposal facilities, and in government agencies.

Salary

EHT graduates can expect a typical starting annual salary of around $35,320. Salaries increase with experience and education. Employers often offer tuition reimbursement to workers wanting to earn a bachelor’s degree. Roane State Community College has articulation agreements with several universities for EHT graduates wishing to earn a bachelor’s degree. Articulation agreements help streamline the transfer process to a four-year university.

Faculty

Faculty

Daniel Hyder
Click above for email address
(865) 354-3000 ext. 4273
Program Director

Michael Chung
Click above for email address
(865) 354-3000 ext. 2217

Advisory Board

Advisory Board

Kevin Acres, DSSI/Permafix
Becky Aloisi, Oak Ridge Associated Universities
Ricky Brannon, Tennessee Valley Authority
Rebecca Charles, Teledyne Brown Engineering (Retired)
Michael Chung, Roane State Community College
Amy Evans, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
Paul Gentry, Spectra Tech
Mark Hackett, UCOR
Matt Harrison, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dan Hyder, Roane State Community College
Portia Jones, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
Lloyd Jollay, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
Stacy Jollay, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
Tara Meade, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Don Moffett, TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Retired)
Brad Parish, ATION Group
James Rochelle, Pro2Serve
April Stinnett, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
Wayne Underwood, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Retired)