Senior Environmental Engineer - Air Lead

Company:

Interested in joining a winning team? A team whose employees are empowered to make a difference?

Company:

Olefins and Polymers USA LLC

Job title

Senior Environmental Engineer - Air Lead

Grade

36

Offer Range

$142,857 - 170,000 (commensurate with experience)

Location

La Porte, TX - (Hybrid)

The Olefins & Polymers USA (O&P) division of INEOS is one of the largest producers of olefins and polyolefins in North America. From its manufacturing locations at Chocolate Bayou and the Battleground Manufacturing Complex (BMC), it is a merchant marketer of butadiene, ethylene, polypropylene and high-density polyethylene with annual revenue of over $4b.

The BMC plant, which is located in La Porte, Texas, manufactures more than 2.5 billion pounds of polyethylene and polypropylene annually.  These materials are used in many applications such as containers for milk, water, fruit juice and other liquids, high gloss containers, rope, carpet backing, piping, films, and non-woven textiles.

How this job fits in

The Senior Environmental Engineer Leads the Air Compliance efforts, which requires a strong background in air compliance and experience interacting with permitting authorities.  This position leads air regulatory compliance activities for the BMC site, which has New Source Review (NSR), Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD), Permits by Rule (PBR), Standard Permits, and Title V (TV) permits. The role involves considerable interaction with BMC Operations, Laboratory, Maintenance, Safety, and Management personnel. 

The position reports to the business Environmental Manager as part of the business Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) team.

This role is the primary O&P representative for air compliance interactions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and other environmental agencies.

Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Accountability

The position is accountable for understanding, cascading and putting into practice the INEOS 20 Principles. 

• Champion the INEOS 20 Principles
• Apply them to all safety, health and environmental (SHE) goals and work processes

Accountability 2

Collaborate with other CBW SHE professionals to develop and maintain site SHE management system (SMS) to ensure environmental compliance, reporting and record-keeping.

• Ensure compliance with existing environmental permits, including data collection and analysis, auditing, annual reporting, and trouble-shooting for improvements
• Support overall business goals with minimal direction from management
• Monitor developing regulations to identify those that affect the CBW, and take action to bring the site into compliance with these regulations 
• Identify and pursue new process improvement tactics and tools that will drive performance and continuous improvement
• Provide primary technical expertise for SHE systems and programs

Accountability 3

Establish environmental performance expectations, requirements and plans to improve.

• Support development of a multi-year departmental improvement plan and assist in the development of the site’s SHE improvement plan
• Participate in developing and updating Environmental elements of the business SHE Management System (SMS)
• Cost center custodian, responsible for departmental spending and identifying cost improvement initiatives.
• Establish key environmental performance indicators and targets for BMC and report end of month statistics to the Business Environmental Manager & BMC SHE Manager
• Establish tactics and tools that will engage all levels of the workforce in desired behaviors and activities that will derive desired performance results
• Monitor environmental performance data and trends, audit to ensure compliance and suggest tactics to improve performance
• Challenge status quo and constantly look for ways to improve systems and performance

Accountability 4

Develop and maintain a strong stakeholder focus to ensure compliance with SHE policies and procedures.

• Develop and implement environmental strategies that balance regulatory compliance and business needs
• Support O&P Environmental Manager on ESG reporting efforts for BMC site, as needed
• Foster environmental awareness among employees and contractors
• Liaise, cultivate, and develop solid relationships with internal and external stakeholders including regulators and community industrial associations to represent the company’s interest
• Include fellow work group members, employees across the organization, and occasionally external customers in the decision-making process as warranted to obtain good information, make appropriate decisions, and ensure buy-in and understanding
• Leverage talents and expertise of department to manage multiple priorities in a changing environment
• Champion corrective actions and improvement initiatives

Accountability 5

Act as a technical authority for BMC environmental air compliance programs

• Communicate with Site Leadership Team and Corporate SHE & Compliance Team on issues and challenges to align positions
• Maintain and build a strong technical background on site environmental permits
• Provide technical guidance on compliance issues related to CEMS, PEMS, HRVOC,  MON, RICE MACT, LDAR, MSS, MECT, 30 TAC 101, 111, 115, 116, 117, semi-annual deviation reports, annual reports
• Maintain air emissions spreadsheets and databases including ENVision database
• Provide technical support for site permitting, monitoring, compliance, and reporting efforts in collaboration with other site environmental professionals, as required.
• Establish and deliver clear expectations on the accuracy of all reports
• Communicate effectively and respectfully with TCEQ and EPA during investigations, audits and negotiations.
• Submit Air Emission Event reports for Reportable Quantity (RQ) exceedances to state (TCEQ) and federal (NRC) agencies
• Maintain records for non-reportable (recordable) emission events
• Track & manage agreed orders, supporting implementation of corrective actions for the ordering provisions

Skills & Knowledge Required

Education / Experience

• Bachelor Degree in engineering/technical discipline.
• Minimum of 10+ years plant experience in regulatory compliance and environmental permitting
• Advanced degree(s) may be considered for relevant experience
• Multi-media environmental experience, with extensive background in air permitting applications
• Proven performance in regulatory program implementation
• Ability to interpret SHE regulations and understand their applicability to site operations
• 5-7 years experience managing air programs in a petrochemical or refinery facility

Key Skills & Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to directly and indirectly lead/ influence diverse groups of people successfully.
• Strong technical written and oral communication skills needed to interact effectively with regulatory agencies, community and plant operations personnel and leadership
• Strong interpersonal, communication, coaching and mentoring skills
• General knowledge needed of chemical reaction, polymerization and distillation process design to effectively demonstrate routine emissions for permit applications and upset conditions
• Strong initiative to solve problems and make timely and effective decisions
• Proficient use of computer applications and databases allowing position to implement or improve environmental programs
• Defines personal success in terms of the whole team

#OPUSA

Our culture is one of honesty and integrity with an emphasis on safety, health and environmental performance.  On our team, people are acknowledged for embracing new practices that help create real value for customers.