Leah Rohan, PE |
| Environmental Engineer |
| City of Walla Walla |
| 55 E Moore St |
| Walla Walla, WA 99362-1194 |
| (509) 527-4537 |
| lrohan@wallawallawa.gov |
Bio: |
| While my career path has not been what I imagined when I graduated college in 2009 in the heart of the recession, I consider myself fortunate to have fallen into the Public Works sector where I have worked for 11 years. My career started out as an environmental engineer responsible for regulatory compliance and energy management as a federal contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site. Our company operated what would be considered the “City” of Hanford, overseeing the functions common to cities such as roads, water treatment and distribution, sewer systems, solid waste, fire and police services, etc. to ensure the other contractors could focus on cleanup actions. |
| My career then shifted to the City of Pasco where I co-developed the industrial pretreatment program which was responsible for regulating the industrial wastewater discharges from industries, specifically food processors. I was also a project manager for planning and construction projects at the municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. I’ve now worked for the amazing City of Walla Walla for the last 5 ½ years as a project manager for the City-owned landfill overseeing policy, planning, and construction projects. I also provide oversite of the contractor-run industrial wastewater pretreatment program. |
| This is only my first year as a member of APWA. In the past I’d look at the list of presentations provided at the conferences, and I never saw anything that related to the type of work I was doing. As the only environmental engineer for two separate cities, I am used to being the odd (wo)man out with my projects not quite fitting into the model established. After attending the Fall 2021 conference in Yakima, mainly just as a representative of our City, I was so impressed with the group of people that I met. I felt a comradery that I had not seen within other organizations that I was a member of. |
| This inspired me to become a member and attempt to help expand the variety of the presentations provided to encourage others with similar roles as me within Public Works to see this as an organization for them as well. I am now participating with the Sustainability and PREFOG/Wastewater committees. I hope to bring enthusiasm, fresh ideas, and an emerging professional’s point of view to the Board. |