NASF Public Policy Update – June 2021
CLICK HERE FOR THE MONTHLY UPDATE
info@nenasf.org
508-754-2671
Rocco A. Mastrobattista 1935-2021
Rocco Alexander Mastrobattista, 86 years old, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 11, 2021. The son of Domenic and Josephine Mastrobattista, Rocco was a lifelong resident of Farmington, Connecticut. He graduated from Farmington High School and attended Central Connecticut College. The quintessential, self-made man, Rocco started his career at Stanley Works in New Britain, Connecticut as a chemist, later working as a sales man for Federated Metals and Smelting. In 1979, Rocco purchased Bass Plating Company in Bloomfield, Connecticut, building the business into the pre-eminent electroplating facility in the northeast, setting the gold standard in the industry for quality, customer service and environmental responsibility.
The New England NASF would like to extend condolences to the family of Rocco Mastrobattista of Bass Plating Company. Bass Plating was a long time member of both the Connecticut Association of Metal Finishing and our New England National Association for Surface Finishing Chapters.
Obituary Information
NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER HOSTS WINTER VIRTUAL SEMINAR
The New England Chapter of NASF once again hosted a virtual seminar for the benefit of their membership and the entire metal finishing community. The event was held on Tuesday March 2, 2021. With the COVID pandemic still forcing the elimination of in-person meetings the executive board is realizing the necessity to continue to have events that will not only educate but, to whatever extent possible, bond those associated with metal finishing community.
The event was once again a four-hour Continuing Education Conference offering continuing education contact hours towards Wastewater license renewal. It was conducted by means of a Zoom format and attracted about forty attendees. It consisted of four presentations in two segments from 9:00 to 11:00 and 1:00 to 3:00, offering a more user-friendly format for all attendees.
Levi McGuire from PAVCO opened the Webinar with a presentation on Zinc-Nickel plating, covering the advantages and drawbacks of alternative chemistries from both an application and wastewater treatment perspective. This was followed by an eye-opening presentation by Paul LaFlamme of Centrend on cyber security highlighting the upcoming very elaborate security requirements that will be necessary to conduct business primarily with, but not exclusive to, all government/defense agencies in the not too distant future.
The afternoon session featured presentations by a team comprised of Jeff Mosholder of Newpath LLC plus Alisa Werst and Roger Booth of HRP Associates.
This trio covered the mandatory RCRA training required of all personnel handling hazardous waste and also covered commonly made environmental record keeping and reporting errors that could result in regulatory inspection citations.
Special thank Rob Capalbo of NBC TV Springfield affiliate WWLP for acting as technical director, support and moderator as he once again helped to successfully bring this Virtual Seminar to reality.
We continue to live in a very different world and, until we can all once again assemble for in-person conferences and networking, must continue to offer, through the combined efforts of NASF Board Members, Committee Members, Chapter Membership and dedicated and talented members of the Metal Finishing Community as a whole, events such as this which can be offered for the benefit of our membership.
Regulatory Meetings Crop Up Like Crocuses in the Sunlight
Besides PFAS, QACs, Nonos and Fee Increases, Administration Discusses Expansion of TURA
The Commonwealth has an odd way of welcoming spring….
1 Week Away! New England NASF Virtual Seminar – March 2, 2021
CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION
NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER HOSTS VIRTUAL SEMINAR
The Inaugural Virtual Seminar of the New England Chapter of NASF was held on Wednesday October 14, 2020 for the benefit of their membership and the entire metal finishing community. With the elimination of in-person meetings brought about by the COVID pandemic the executive board realized the necessity to continue to have events that would not only educate but, to some extent, bond those associated with metal finishing.
The event, which was a four-hour Wastewater Treatment Update offering continuing education contact hours for Wastewater license renewal, was conducted by means of a Zoom format and attracted about forty attendees. It offered four presentations in two segments from 9:00 to 11:00 and 1:00 to 3:00.
The first presentation covered an overview, regulations and reporting requirements surrounding PFAS substances and was presented by Katherine Robertson, Executive Director of MCTA (Mass Chemistry & Technology Alliance), along, with a panel of experts on the subject. This was followed by a presentation by Remington Schieffer of Dynapower on electrical maintenance for wastewater treatment equipment efficiency and also featured a glimpse at research being conducted that could electrolytically remediate PFAS substances.
The afternoon session featured Robin Deal, senior wastewater specialist at Hubbard Hall, and a panel of experts, offering a presentation entitled “Don’t let Wastewater slow down your Metal Finishing Operation”. The webinar concluded with Fran DiGiovanni, lifelong technical finishing chemistry specialist and metal finishing consultant, who offered a presentation entitled “Training in the Metal Finishing Shop, What We Do Versus What We Need to Do”.
Special thanks to Katherine Robertson of MCTA for offering to act as Moderator for this event, and to Rob Capalbo of NBC TV Springfield affiliate WWLP who acted as technical director and support to successfully bring this Virtual Seminar to reality.
We are living in a very different world today and it is through the combined efforts of NASF Board Members, Committee Members, Chapter Membership and dedicated and talented members of the Metal Finishing Community as a whole that events such as this can be offered for the benefit of our membership.
NEW ENGLAND-NASF VIRTUAL SEMINAR
NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER-NASF VIRTUAL SEMINAR
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14, 2020
4 WASTEWATER CONTACT HOURS HAVE BEEN APPROVED!
YOUR NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER HAS ASSEMBLED A FIELD OF FOUR METAL FINISHING EXPERTS TO BRING YOU UP TO DATE ON EMERGING WASTEWATER ISSUES AND TECHNIQUES THROUGH THE USE OF VIRTUAL CONFERENCING
PRESENTERS:
Katherine Robertson – MCTA
Fran DiGiovanni – Technical Consultant
Remington Schieffer – Dynapower
Robin Deal- Hubbard-Hall
ON-LINE VIRTUAL SEMINAR
9:00 TO 11:00 am and 1:00 TO 3:00 pm
COST:
$50 / PERSON (NENASF MEMBERS)
$100 /PERSON (NON-MEMBERS)
REGISTRATION AND MORE INFORMATION
CAN BE FOUND UNDER OUR EVENTS SECTION
NASF 2020 Election Outlook
NASF US Election Outlook
Charlie Cook, Virtual Keynote
Thursday, September 10, 2020
1:00 pm- 2:00 pm ET
Editor and Publisher, The Cook Political Report
Washington, DC
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
NASF has hosted national political analyst Charlie Cook several times over the years for the annual NASF Washington Forum. While this key event was moved from this year to spring 2021 due to the pandemic, the association is pleased to welcome Charlie for a special “virtual” Washington Forum session this fall.
This will be the fifth in our series of NASF virtual Washington Forum events in 2020, and we invite all members to participate. We look forward to hosting this important discussion with one of the nation’s most trusted, non-partisan analysts of US politics and elections.
Charlie Cook Biography
Charlie Cook is the Editor and Publisher of The Cook Political Report, and a political analyst for the National Journal Group.
In 1984, Charlie founded the independent, non-partisan Cook Political Report. Now, with a staff of six, it is a publication that The New York Times once said was “a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative” while CBS News’ Bob Schieffer called it “the bible of the political community.”
Al Hunt in The Wall Street Journal has referred to Cook as “the Picasso of election analysis.” In 2019, Cook was named co-author of the 2020 Edition of the Almanac of American Politics adding to his omniscient powers.
The late David Broder of The Washington Post, long considered ‘the Dean’ of the Washington press corps, once wrote that Charlie Cook is “perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races.”
Charlie has appeared frequently on ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and ABC’s This Week. Since the 1990s he has appeared over a dozen times on NBC’s Meet the Press. Over the years Charlie has served as an Election Night analyst for CBS, CNN, and NBC and, since 1996, on NBC News Election Night Decision Desk in New York.
In 2010, Charlie was the co-recipient of the American Political Science Association’s prestigious Carey McWilliams Award to honor “a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics.” In 2013, Charlie served as a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
If you have questions regarding this webinar or any other NASF events, please email rmorrison@nasf.org.
SWING FOR SCIENCE MCTA’S 2020 GOLF OUTING
MCTA – SWING FOR SCIENCE Flyer
SWING FOR SCIENCE
MCTA’S 2020 GOLF OUTING
In the era of COVID-19 we can still have some fun while doing good! Proceeds will benefit the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair Scholarship Program.
http://scifair.com
Thursday, September 10th, 2020
Highfields Golf & Country Club
42 McGill Drive, Grafton, MA 01519
www.highfieldsgolfcc.com
9:45 AM – Start of Rolling Registration
Starting at 10:00 AM – Sequential Scheduled Tee Times Will Be Assigned In Advance.
Scholarship Donations
______ Please consider a voluntary donation to the scholarship fund.
(Suggested minimum, $100.)
Golf Opportunities
______ Golf Foursome (includes box lunch & golf) – $500
______ Individual Golfer (includes box lunch & golf) – $125
Golfer Information
Company or Team Name: _______________________________________________________
Golfers: 1. __________________________________ 2. _____________________________________
3. __________________________________ 4. _____________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: __________________________ Email: _________________________________________________
THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION, PAYMENT AND SPONSORSHIPS IS AUGUST 20, 2020
Payment: Register and pay on line at https://www.eventregisterpro.com/event/mcta2020
Checks and registration information can be mailed to Katherine Robertson c/o MCTA, PO box 518, Upton, MA 01568.
Donations should be made out to MSSEF and mailed to Katherine Robertson c/o MCTA, PO Box 518, Upton, MA 01568
For more information please call Katherine Robertson (508) 572-9113 or email Katherine@masscta.org
ALL SCHOLARSHIP DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE
NASF NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER
SUMMER UPDATE 2020
First and foremost the entire Executive Board of the NASF New England Chapter sends their most sincere wishes that everyone and their families in the metal finishing community are all remaining healthy and vigilant through the global pandemic which we are experiencing. We all realize that these are difficult times that have been trying the inner fiber of not only our trade but society as a whole.
Here is a brief update on what has been happening and future events planned at both the local and national levels. As you know, we were forced to cancel our premier event on the association calendar, Suppliers Night, in April. We are happy to announce that that we were still able to award scholarships to deserving college bound students from within the NENASF membership community.
Looking forward to the fall, it does not appear that group gatherings as we have been accustomed will be allowed at that time. The Board has been busy researching alternative formats for the Fall Seminar currently scheduled for October 6th. As it stands right now we have four speakers that have volunteered to give presentations via a virtual webinar based Zoom format as a wastewater continuing ed event. The presentation will take place in early to mid October and will be comprised of a morning and afternoon session each of two hour duration for a total of four continuing ed contact hours. The DEP has indicated that they would be receptive to this method of educational program as long as frequent attendance verification is performed throughout the presentation(s). We will keep you informed as the summer progresses.
At the National level, even though SUR-FIN also had to be cancelled, the Policy Group has been hard at work keeping ahead of regulatory issues impacting our industry, and the educational branch of the NASF (AESF) is continuing to offer training opportunities for all members including CEF certification courses.
On behalf of the entire NENASF Executive Board have an enjoyable summer and, most importantly, remain vigilant and stay safe.
New England Chapter of NASF is an official chapter of
The National Association for Surface Finishing