Environmental Specialist 2 (20046806)

What We Need:

Ohio EPA Environmental Specialist 2

What We Do:

At the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, our primary goal is to protect the environment and public health. We do this by ensuring compliance with federal and state environmental laws.

What We Need YOU To Do:

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency wants you to be our newest environmental specialist in the Office of Emergency Response (OER), working at our Central Office in Columbus, Ohio.

Your job will help protect all of Ohio. Period.

As an environmental specialist with OER in Columbus, you will respond to and conduct civil investigations into the release of hazardous materials or petroleum and respond to emergency releases in accordance with office protocols. You will identify and advise responsible parties of their regulatory requirements under Ohio law concerning containment and remediation of their release to ensure protection of the public and environment.

You are going to coordinate OER activities with responsible parties, agency divisions, local, state, and federal agencies and response organizations to ensure adequate communication and compliance with applicable policy, procedure, and regulatory requirements.  

In your role, you will collect environmental samples to document releases, evaluate appropriate response requirements, and assess environmental impacts – and you will activate and oversee work of state level of effort contractor at release scenes in accordance with OER protocols. Furthermore, you will provide guidance to contractors on the investigation, remediation, abatement, spill mitigation, and prevention – as well as provide technical assistance to the regulated community, consultants, and government officials regarding applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and division policy and guidance.

The basics:

• Respond to and conduct civil investigations into the release of hazardous materials.

• Identify and advise responsible parties of their regulatory requirements under Ohio law.

• Coordinate OER activities with responsible parties, agency divisions, as well as local/state/federal agencies.

• Collect environmental samples to document releases – evaluate appropriate response requirements.

• Provide guidance to contractors on the investigation, remediation, abatement, spill mitigation, and prevention.

You. Us. The perfect combo!

At the State of Ohio, we take care of the team that cares for Ohioans. We provide a variety of quality, competitive benefits to eligible full-time and part-time employees*. For a list of all the State of Ohio Benefits, visit our Total Rewards website! Our benefits package includes:

• Medical Coverage
• Free Dental, Vision and Basic Life Insurance premiums after completion of eligibility period
• Paid time off, including vacation, personal, sick leave and 11 paid holidays per year
• Childbirth, Adoption, and Foster Care leave
• Education and Development Opportunities (Employee Development Funds, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and more)
• Public Retirement Systems (such as OPERS, STRS, SERS, and HPRS) & Optional Deferred Compensation (Ohio Deferred Compensation)

*Benefits eligibility is dependent on a number of factors. The Agency Contact listed above will be able to provide specific benefits information for this position.

• 12 mos. exp. as Environmental Specialist 1, 85861.
• OR 4 yrs. trg. or 4 yrs. exp. in position involving engineering or chemistry, physics, biology, environmental science, geology or hydrogeology &/or other comparable physical or health science field &/or mathematics which included responsibility for conducting compliance monitoring surveys &/or inspections/reviews or investigations, or review of permit applications relative to oil & gas well operations or injection, annular disposal & saltwater injection wells & enhanced recovery projects or coal mining, or solid/hazardous waste sites or industrial & municipal wastewater dischargers, or collecting, compiling & preparing various environmental assessments, evaluations, reports & related documents. Training & experience must be commensurate with duties to be assigned.
• OR baccalaureate degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, environmental science, earth science &/or urban & regional planning, geology or other comparable physical or health science fields, with training to be commensurate with duties to be assigned.

Job Skills:  Environmental Services, Engineering, Public Relations, Equipment Operations, Reasoning, Verbal Communication, Written Communication, Customer Focus

All answers to supplemental questions must be supported by the work experience/education provided on your application.  Attachments will not be accepted for this posting.  Official educational transcripts are required for post-high school educational accomplishments, coursework or degrees claimed on the application. Applicants will be required to submit an official transcript if they are selected for the position. Current Ohio EPA employees may be required to provide official educational transcripts.

Location: 4675 Homer Ohio Lane, Groveport, Ohio 43125

Division: Office of Emergency Response

Background Check: The final candidate selected for the position will be required to undergo a criminal background check.  Criminal convictions do not necessarily preclude an applicant from consideration for a position.  An individual assessment of an applicant's prior criminal convictions will be made before excluding an applicant from consideration.

EEO Statement: The Ohio Environmental Protections Agency is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender/sex, gender identity or expression, national origin (ancestry), military status, disability, age (40 years of age or older), genetic information, sexual orientation, status as a parent during pregnancy and immediately after the birth of a child, status as a parent of a young child, or status as a foster parent as those are defined in applicable Ohio law, federal law, and any Executive Order, in admission or access to the operation of its programs, services, activities or its own employment practices.  Employment practices are any employment related decisions including, but not limited to hiring, layoff, transfer, termination, promotion, demotion, discipline, rate of compensation, eligibility for in-service training programs, or terms and conditions of employment. 

ADA Statement: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is committed to providing access, equal employment opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the Office of Human Resources at 614-644-2100 prior to testing or interviewing.

Ohio is a Disability Inclusion State and strives to be a model employer of individuals with disabilities. The State of Ohio is committed to providing access and inclusion and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other applicable laws.

The State of Ohio is a drug-free workplace which prohibits the use of marijuana (recreational marijuana/non-medical cannabis). Please note, this position may be subject to additional restrictions pursuant to the State of Ohio Drug-Free Workplace Policy (HR-39), and as outlined in the posting.