Vice President / Principal Engineer
Sara Hutson, P.E.
Sara A. Hutson, P.E. has over 40 years of environmental experience in the petrochemical and oil refining industries as well as in environmental consulting. She has been with Waid Environmental since 1990. Sara works with industry in air pollution control, solid and hazardous waste management, and storm water management. As a member of the executive leadership at Waid Environmental, Sara participates in the preparation of air permit applications, amendments, and exemptions, negotiates permit conditions with the TCEQ, and NMED, participates in agency inspections, supervises or prepares Emissions Inventories, and provides regulatory analyses and compliance assistance for fuel and chemical terminals, refineries, and crude gathering stations.
Sara also conducts compliance audits and prepares compliance manuals and calendars for products terminals and crude stations in multiple states. In addition, Sara also prepares Tier Two and TRI reports for clients as required under SARA 312 and 313, as well as Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plans for refineries, terminals, and pipeline stations.
Prior to coming to Waid Environmental, Sara was an environmental engineer at Koch Refining Company in Corpus Christi. Her duties included interpreting regulations, coordinating agency inspections, obtaining required permits, and training employees in various aspects of air, wastewater treatment, and hazardous/solid waste management. While at Koch, in the area of hazardous/solid waste management, Sara designed a hazardous waste land treatment facility, obtained the Part B permit for the facility, and supervised the reconnaissance studies on soil, unsaturated zone, and groundwater that were required. Implemented several remedial investigations at on-site solid waste management units and performed statistical analyses on groundwater data. Prepared closure plans, waste analysis plans, and other plans required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Sara also provided technical support for the operations of the refinery wastewater treatment plant which included troubleshooting, daily operational adjustment recommendations, and interpretation of laboratory data. Obtained NPDES and TWC discharge permits and performed runoff calculations for storm water handling. Finally, Sara was responsible for air pollution work that included numerous new and modified TCEQ and PSD permits for refinery process units, continuous emission monitor selection and maintenance programs, and compliance testing at new or modified units.
Sara is a registered Professional Engineer in the States of Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Washington. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering (with Highest Honors) from the University of Texas at Austin in 1982.