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November 15th Luncheon
November 15, 2023 @ 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Free - $30November 15th Luncheon
Join the Central Texas Association of Environmental Professionals for our November Luncheon!
Our guest speaker is Kemble White, PhD, PG
Owner and Senior Scientist at Cambrian Environmental
Important Note: If you purchase your ticket in advance, there is no need to RSVP. Please RSVP only if you want to reserve your spot but want to be invoiced for payment at a later date. Please purchase your ticket or RSVP by 10 AM on November 14th.
Speakers:
Kemble White, PhD, PG
Topic:
Cambria Cavern Discovery and Mitigation; A Case Study in Urban Karst Management
Location:
4301 Westbank Drive, Austin, TX 78746
The meeting room is in the ERIS Office, Ste. 250, Building B, 2nd floor
*We plan to have lunch catering done by Panera
Date:
Wednesday, August 16th. Check in starting at 11:30 AM. Presentation starts at Noon.
Members:
$20
Non-members:
$30
Full-Time Students:
$20
More information about the Topic:
In the early morning hours of February 8th 2018, residents of a neighborhood north of Austin, Texas were awakened by the sound of “thunder”. Hundreds of tons of the ceiling of a previously undetected cavern had collapsed taking with it portions of Cambria Drive, the adjacent sidewalk, and underground utilities. Approximately 750,000 gallons of water washed directly into the Edwards Aquifer as the nearby water tower emptied itself through the ruptured water main. By first light commuters and school kids encountered a yawning void in the earth expelling a column of water vapor into the frosty sky. Fortunately, neither sewer nor natural gas utilities were compromised, and no one was harmed. This presentation documents the aftermath and the eight-month process of protecting the cave, the aquifer, and associated habitat for threatened and endangered species, while restoring full function to the neighborhood. The exploration and mapping process is discussed, as well as the development of site protection measures, regulatory compliance strategies, occupational safety measures, and the cave closure engineering and construction plans.
More information on our speaker:
Kemble White, PhD, PG – Owner and Senior Scientist at Cambrian Environmental
Prior to starting Cambrian Environmental Dr. White served for 15 years as senior geologist, karst specialist, and project manager for one of the largest ecological consulting firms in the country. Dr. White specializes in the endangered Species Act and water quality regulations as they pertain to caves, springs and the Edwards Aquifer.
Kemble’s doctorate was in biospeleology, the study of cave ecology. His research has been published in Geology, one of the world’s flagship peer-reviewed scientific journals. Two species have been named in his honor and he has discovered numerous new locations for rare and endangered species. Kemble is a licensed professional geoscientist and holds the applicable U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits for working with threatened and endangered karst species in the Austin San Antonio growth corridor.