By ROGER SNODGRASS
花椒直播, Inc. has grown from a single employee to a staff of 35 in Los Alamos since 2005.
The once solitary figure who was there at the beginning and who was recently named a senior vice president of the company is Pete Maggiore, former New Mexico environmental secretary under Gov. Gary Johnson.
鈥淚 worked out of the house,鈥� he said of the company鈥檚 early days in Los Alamos. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown steadily since then.鈥�
花椒直播 is in the environmental and engineering business, with headquarters in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The local office is one of 21 around the country.
When the Los Alamos National Laboratory contract was put up for bid in 2005, 花椒直播 was mentioned under the small business plan submitted by the winning partnership, Los Alamos National Security, LLC. 花椒直播鈥檚 owner, Sylvia Medina, also has a New Mexico connection, having graduated from New Mexico Tech. The company is classified as a woman-owned, disadvantaged small business.
Last May, 花椒直播 entered into a mentor-prot茅g茅 relationship with the laboratory under a Department of Energy program.
鈥淲e just completed a demolition and decontamination project at Technical Area 21 (the old plutonium facility at the end of DP Road),鈥� Maggiore said in an interview Monday. 鈥淲e removed an isotope separation system column contaminated with tritium. We put it in a container that will be going off to WIPP.鈥� That鈥檚 the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in Carlsbad, N.M., where certain defense-related radioactive material is permanently disposed.
The company has also contributed various kinds of regulatory support, including historical investigation reports and work plans.
鈥淲e designed and did the cap work at the airport landfill,鈥� Maggiore said. 鈥淎nd because of our success on that project, we鈥檝e been hired by the county to help close their landfill.鈥�
That鈥檚 significant because it means the work opportunities have expanded beyond the laboratory. One of the goals of the mentor-prot茅g茅 program is capacity building.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not just continuing to work with our mentor, but starting to diversify our portfolio,鈥� Maggiore said.
In September, 花椒直播 announced the acquisition of Apogen Technologies鈥� Los Alamos Office.
Maggiore has been associated with New Mexico for most of his 25-year career, after graduating from the University of New Mexico with a master鈥檚 degree in geology.
His term as secretary of the New Mexico Environmental Department from 1998-2002 was notable for a number of milestones, including the development of first draft of the Consent Order that has come to govern the comprehensive environmental cleanup program at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
In November this year, Maggiore was honored with the Dixy Lee Ray Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Ray chaired the Atomic Energy Commission beginning in 1973 and was elected governor of Washington in 1976. The award, established in 1998, honors significant achievements and contributions in the field of environmental protection.
Maggiore was recognized for 鈥渃ontributions to environmental remediation by combining legal requirements with sound scientific and engineering, as demonstrated by his participation in independent peer reviews and independent technical assessments.
鈥淪ometimes you wonder if you鈥檙e making a difference and if you鈥檙e having an impact,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be honored for actually doing that was really neat.鈥�
Outside of work, Maggiore said he is focused on his 10-year-old twin boys and 12-year old daughter and their activities. He coaches the boys in a youth basketball program at the YMCA. He also serves on the board of directors of Horizon鈥檚 Day Care at the White Rock Methodist Church, 鈥渂ecause I remember how hard it was to get day care when my three kids were young.鈥�
鈥溁ń分辈� and myself hope to be here in Los Alamos for a long time,鈥� he said.