Member Profile: Janine Burke-Wells

jburkewells_5sWe profiled our Vice President and former NEWEA Rhode Island State Director Janine Burke-Wells. Janine is also an active member of the Narragansett Water Pollution Control Association. Janine has been working in the public sector for over 25 years. She spent the first decade of her career working for the EPA in Boston with a B.S. in chemical engineering while simultaneously pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. Though Janine is a diehard Red Sox fan nd loves spending time in Boston her heart brought her back to her home state of Rhode Island.

Around the time that Janine wrapped up her Master’s course of study a position became available as Director of the WWTP in her Town, West Warwick. She did not expect to find herself working in a WWTP but had a great set of mentors at the new position and welcomed the challenge. Her boss supported her involvement in professional associations, and her efforts to work towards obtaining a treatment plant operator’s license. Through working hands on with operators and attending training courses she was soon able to obtain the license and gained a profound understanding and respect for the operator community.

img_8640Janine finds herself cheerleading for the operations staff, working diligently to ensure they get what they need to do the job and encouraging their continued growth and involvement in professional organizations. She regularly participates in the state operator’s association weekly golf outings throughout the summer. For Janine, golf has become her new athletic passion, after a few too many injuries forced her to retire from her old favorite pastime, softball.

After roughly a decade working for the West Warwick WWTP, Janine was ready for a new challenge. She took on the role of Executive Director of the Warwick Sewer Authority in 2008. When asked about one of the most challenging events in her career, Janine reflects upon the flood of 2010 in Warwick. The flood completely submerged the WWTP and left a community economically crippled. She found herself working long hours from a command center at the Town’s fire department, which caught the attention of her family. The harrowing endeavor left such an impression on her daughter the she chose to write about it in her college entrance essay. Through this, it was clear, her daughter gained a new found respect for the importance of her mother’s career.

With the help of FEMA and insurance funding, the Warwick WWTP was rebuilt over a two years period. While the community continues their recovery from the financial strains through today. Janine noted, that an acute event such as this brings attention to the importance of emergency response planning. Also noting, our industry needs to make emergency response a bigger part of our mission in order to be prepared to make smart decisions fast and to know where we can reach out for support when it is needed. We also need to continue our focus on public education and rebranding our field to be able to garner the support we need financially as well as the staffing we need going forward.

high-water-markerWhen contemplating our industries future, Janine worries that the next generation will be left to solve some amazing problems including non-point source pollution, and climate change. Not to minimize the efforts of the last half century, the improvements in water quality have been immense, but much of that was undertaken with the support of the government. She notes we will need to continue to make significant efforts to not only gain and maintain the support of the government but also to empower and inspire the next generation. Recruitment, especially in the field of operations is key for the success of our industry as we currently have a major supply and demand issue when it comes to qualified staffing. One of the efforts Warwick is undertaking, coordinated by their Lab Director, involves a partnership with the local Technical High School. They recruit student interns each year, providing them with hands on experience and training towards their lab or operators licenses. This enables these students to hit the ground running in the career right after graduation.

At this year’s NEWEA annual conference you will find Janine at various events as well as presenting in one of the collection systems sessions on the five years of planning and eventual success of a project to slip line Warwick’s main trunk line under Interstate 95. Thanks for your service Janine!

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One Response to Member Profile: Janine Burke-Wells

  1. Bob Mack December 24, 2016 at 11:28 am #

    I have known Janine for over 20 years. She is a remarkable individual that has contributed greatly to the success and growth of our industry. Additionally, she is a warm and giving person, always volunteering to help out. We are all in her debt.

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