Training Expo in Central Pennsylvania

Last year I attended the 2007 Central PA RETA Training Expo and felt it was well worth the time. This year it is scheduled for April 3rd, 2008

This is a one day event held at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, PA at a cost of $10 per attendee including lunch.


Classes currently scheduled:

"Arc Flash & Equipment PM" by Mr. Todd Benincasa, EE, Premium Power Services

"PSM - Contractor Safety" by Mr. Cliff Jarrett, Compliance Officer, OSHA

"Re-Circulatory Air Door Technology" by Mr. Tim Buckley, HCR Inc.

"Verification & Removal of Contaminated NH3" by Mr. Grant Williams, AIR GAS,Inc.

"Motors 101" by Mr. William Kohr, Motor Technology, Inc.

"Halocarbon Screw Technology" by Mr. Jon Lazarow, CopelandBitzer, Inc.

"Vessel Design Function & Operation" byVirgil Jordan, RVS, Inc.

"Chemical Treatment to Stop Deterioration" by Mr. Andy Nowak, Condor Technology, Inc.

"Low Temp. Insulation" by Mr. Mike Irlbacher, Extol of Ohio, Inc.


There will also be a healthy selection of vendors there to peruse - last year I found personal portable ammonia detectors that we now use at two facilities.

I have been informed by the SEPA RETA Chairman that you do NOT have to be a RETA member to attend the event.

If you are anywhere near the Lancaster area (I'll be driving two hours to get there) please consider attending this event and/or sending your refrigeration personnel to it. This event can be documented as a PSM/RMP training exercise for plants covered by the PSM/RMP regulation.

Click Here to download the schedule of events and registration form.

Good News. In a Weird Way

Anyone who stores significant amounts of Anhydrous Ammonia knows that there is a very real risk of your storage facility being targeted by people who want to steal it for use in methamphetamine. It looks like some of the more industrious narcotic dealers have created a way to make meth that might minimize that threat.

"...in place of anhydrous ammonia, the new recipe calls for using common garden fertilizer or the ammonium nitrate found in cold-pack compresses — both easy to buy or steal" --The Kalamazoo Gazette

While there is no joy in the fact that this makes meth manufacture easier, there is some small comfort in knowing it lowers the risk posed by some yahoo breaking into an ammonia system; something that usually results in a significant environmental release.