David Svab calls Northeastern Pennsylvania his home, spending his entire life, except for the time spent at Penn State University, in the foothills of the anthracite coal fields. He attended Coughlin High School in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, where he took a variety of course work to prepare him for an environmental career, not yet defined. While at Coughlin High School, he excelled in basketball, lettering three consecutive years, and was awarded the Andy Day Sportsman Award for his hard work, determination, and team effort. Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, mentioned, “It’s a small world, because, I met David’s father, who is also a Biology Teacher at Coughlin High School at another EPCAMR Event and we got to talking about volunteer opportunities and I was also the Coughlin Freshmen Boy’s Jr. High Basketball Coach, under the tutelage of Coach Joe Caffrey, who was not only the Guidance Counselor for Coughlin High School, but was the Varsity Head Coach of David’s and my Varsity Head Coach back in 1990 and 1991, I when I was a Captain, during my junior and senior year at E.L. Meyers High School, also in the Wilkes-Barre Area.”
Being an avid lover of the outdoors and animals, yet not sure which career path to follow, he attended Kings College hoping to sort out his ambitions. There, he rediscovered his great love of the outdoors, and recognized that there was a need to preserve the beauty and transform our local landscapes back home, tarnished by the Anthracite Coal industry of years past. He decided to attend Penn State University and seek a degree in Environmental Engineering and put his passions to work in order to preserve our natural environment, that can benefit all, while sustaining it for generations to come. Realizing the errors of the past, he was inspired to become an environmental engineer in order to contribute to the community he calls home, right back here in the Wyoming Valley, where EPCAMR has its home base, in the heart of the Anthracite Coal Region.
He graduated from Pennsylvania State University in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering. While at Penn State, he gained an understanding of the influence of industrial actions on the environment and the choice of cost effective remediation strategies. He also took classes focusing on water and wastewater treatment and sampling and monitoring of the geo-environment. Through his educational experiences in the class, the lab, or field work, he has established the necessary foundation to build a career in the environmental engineering field.
At this time David is putting these skills to use as an unpaid Watershed Outreach Intern working part-time, for EPCAMR, under the direct supervision of the Executive Director, Robert E. Hughes. He is a team spirited individual with a strong determination to solve problems in a cost efficient and effective manner. He is defined as a student for life; determine to succeed both personally and professionally.
“I anticipate that this internship will give me the experience needed to obtain a full-time job. Robert has already during my initial interview process informed me that within just a few short months time, I will have networked with over 50-100 organizations, industries, non-profits, State and Federal employees, and other reclamation-related partners that will ensure me at least an opportunity to tell them who I am, what my interests are, have the ability to establish a professional rapport with people in my field of interest, and refine my technical skills with hands-on learning, outdoor field training, and will learn all about mine drainage remediation and abandoned mine reclamation from many different aspects from my Supervisor, who is one of the most respected regional experts on watershed restoration efforts in the Coal Region. stated David enthusiastically.
David Svab, EPCAMR Watershed Outreach Intern sampling AMD at the Guten Mine Tunnel Drift discharge in Sullivan County, PA on his first day on the job
David has previously assisted with an EPCAMR Streamside Cleanup on Nockley’s Tributary, in the Solomon Creek watershed with his Father, Bernie Svab, on July 15th, 2013. His first day on his internship, he was able to travel up to Sullivan County with the EPCAMR Staff to conduct water sampling, flow monitoring, and a field investigation of the Lewis property Guten Mine Tunnel Drift discharge, in Cherry Township, Sullivan County, outside of Bernice, PA. EPCAMR is working with the Moshannon District Mining Office of the PA Department of Environmental Protection, the landowner, Mr. Marc Lewis, and Hedin Environmental, Inc., our contractor to rehabilitate an Anoxic Limestone Drain (ALD) Treatment System that has been having some plugging issues and a reduced treatment system efficiency due to the plugging of the system with iron, aluminum, organic plant material roots from sedges that have taking over the pond, and possible mixing of a compost layer. “He was put to task right away with learning how to monitor AMD discharges in the field by utilizing our AMD HACH Testing Kits, sampling iron levels, acidity, alkalinity, pH, and Temperature. We’ve got lots of small projects for him to undertake that will allow him to get his hands dirty, so to speak, because with EPCAMR, if you don’t come back to the office with some amount of orange-colored iron oxide on you, you probably didn’t work hard enough that day,” joked Robert.
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