SKILL SUMMARY:
• Experience understanding and interpreting state and federal regulations and requirements relevant to environmental and hydrogeologic issues with an emphasis on nuclear waste.
• Experience assessing and identifying strengths and weaknesses of components incorporated in hydrogeologic conceptual models.
• Experience managing complex environmental projects with an emphasis in risk assessment and sensitivity analysis related to storage of nuclear waste.
• Expertise in quality assurance and quality compliance issues.
• Skill demonstrating traceability, reproducibility, and transparency of data.
• Over 15 years of project management experience.
• Field and laboratory experience related to hazardous waste in geo-environmental settings.
• Strong technical communication skills both orally and in writing.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Analytical
• Sensitivity analyst and numerical modeler of single and two-phase hydrogeologic models used for compliance and decision making.
• Data qualification expert and technical reviewer of documents meant to satisfy NRC, DOE, EPA and the DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) regulatory requirements.
• Data qualification analyst of technical reports relevant to NRC regulations mandated by the DOE OCRWM.
Leadership
• Team Coordinator of features, events, and processes to be incorporated into hydrogeologic conceptual models for use at nuclear waste sites.
• Team Coordinator meteorological legacy data incorporated in long-term infiltration predictive models.
• Permit Lead/Reclamation Specialist for proposed uranium mines; Project Manager for site assessments and engineering mitigation of abandoned uranium mines.
• Member of international working group comparing the performance of numerical hydrogeologic flow and transport codes.
Communication
• Technical report compliance reviewer for licensing of nuclear waste sites.
• Facilitator for interface between technical and regulatory working groups of components to be incorporated into conceptual models of nuclear waste sites.
• Authored technical reports related to flow and chemical transport through both the saturated and unsaturated zone.
Organizational
• Technical reviewer of hydrologic and geologic reports, with an emphasis on technical documents germane to nuclear waste sites.
• Sensitivity analyst and numerical modeler of single and two-phase flow through porous media used for compliance and decision making.
WORK HISTORY:
Hydrologist, State of New Mexico Mining and Mineral Division, Albuquerque, NM 2008-2009
Consulting, Mike Wallace Associates, Albuquerque, NM 2007-2008
Contractor, Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM 1992-2007
Environmental Remediation Work, CDM Federal Programs Corporation, Albuquerque, NM 1991-1992
Kathleen
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EDUCATION:
Masters of Science in Hydrology 1991
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM
Bachelors of Science in Anthropology 1971
University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA
Evaluation of Brine Inflow at a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Water Environment Research, 72(4): 397-404.
Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis Results for Two-Phase Flow Under Disturbed Conditions in the Vicinity of the Repository in the 1996 Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 69(1): 263-304.
Computational Implementation of a Systems Prioritization Methodology for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 57(3): 223-266
Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis Results Obtained in the 1992 Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 51(1): 53-100
January-February 1993. Fiberglass Encasement Method for Undisturbed Soil Columns. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 57: 39-41.
Peer Reviewed Government and National Laboratory Reports
SNL (Sandia National Laboratories) 2006. Data Analysis for Infiltration Modeling: Extracted Weather Station Data Used to Represent Present-Day and Potential Future Climate Conditions in the Vicinity of Yucca Mountain. ANL-MGR-MD-000015 REV 00. Las Vegas, Nevada: Sandia National Laboratories.
BSC (Bechtel SAIC Company) 2004. Features, Events, and Processes in SZ Flow and Transport. ANL-NBS-MD-000002 REV 02. Las Vegas, Nevada: Bechtel SAIC Company. ACC
Brine and Gas Flow Patterns Between the Excavated Area and the Disturbed Rock Zone in the 1996 Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for a Single Drilling Intrusion that Penetrates Repository and Castile Brine Reservoir. SAND99-1043, Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories.
and Sensitivity Analysis Results Obtained in the 1996 Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. SAND98-0365. Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories.
WIPP Performance Assessment Department, 1993. Preliminary Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, 1992. Volume 5: Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses of Gas and Brine Migration for Undisturbed Performance. SAND92-0700/5. Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories. Acknowledged Contributor: Economy K., Area of Responsibility; Hydrology, SECO2D, SECOTP (flow and transport in the Culebra Dolomite).
WIPP Performance Assessment Department, 1992. Preliminary Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1992. Volume 1: Third Comparison with 40 CFR 191, Subpart B. SAND92-0700/1. Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories. Acknowledged Contributor: Economy K., Area of Responsibility; Hydrology, SECO2D, SECOTP (flow and transport in the Culebra Dolomite).
Kathleen
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WIPP Performance Assessment Department, 1992. Preliminary Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1992. Volume 2: Technical Basis. SAND92-0700/2. Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories. Acknowledged Contributor: Economy K., Area of Responsibility; Hydrology, SECO2D, SECOTP (flow and transport in the Culebra Dolomite).
Sandia WIPP Project, 1992. Preliminary Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1992. Volume 3: Model Parameters. SAND92-0700/3. Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories. Acknowledged Contributor: Economy K., Area of Responsibility; Hydrology, SECO2D, SECOTP (flow and transport in the Culebra Dolomite).
WIPP Performance Assessment Department. 1992d. Preliminary Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1992 - Volume 4 : Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses for 40 CFR 191, Subpart B. SAND92-0700/4. Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories. Acknowledged Contributor: Economy K., Area of Responsibility; Hydrology, SECO2D, SECOTP (flow and transport in the Culebra Dolomite).
Preferential Flow Effects on Chemical Transport and Retardation in Soils. Technical Completion Report, Report No. 272, New Mexico Water Resources Institute, Las Cruces, NM.
Formal Presentations, Abstracts, and Proceedings
Conducting Preliminary Site Assessments of Abandoned Uranium Mines in the Grants Uranium Mineral Belt. 2009 National Association of Abandoned Mine Lands Program Conference, September 27-30, 2009, Rogers AR
Thermal Transport in A Saturated Zone Site-Scale Model at Yucca Mountain. 2003 International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference, March 30-April 2, 2003, Las Vegas NV.
Effects of Gas and Brine Flow on Repository Behavior in the 1996 Performance Assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
A Grid Convergence Study for Actinide Transport in a Dual Porosity System. JSME/ASME Fluids Engineering Conference, Hilton Head, S.C.
Transport of Conservative and Mildly Retarded Tracers in In-Situ and Repacked Soil Columns. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Kathleen Economy
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Other Training and Continuing Education:
Radiation Safety—Overview for Environmental Professionals. March 23, 2010, Environmental Protection Agency, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Radiation Safety—Advanced for Environmental Professionals. March 25, 2010, Environmental Protection Agency, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Trimble GeoXT, TerraSync, & PFOffice: Mobile Computing for Reclamation, August 11-14, 2009, Technical Innovation and Professional Services (TIPS) Training Course, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Denver, Colorado.
EQ3/6 Workshop (Geochemical Modeling of Aqueous Systems) , November 30 – December 3, 2004, Albuquerque, Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Finite Element Heat and Mass Transfer Workshop (FEHM), January 16-18, 2002, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico.
FRACMAN Workshop, January 26 -30 1998, Discrete Feature Data Analysis Simulation and Visualization, Denver, Colorado.
Hands-On Visual Basic 5, June 12-13, 1997, Learning Tree International, Reston, Virginia.
Finite Element Heat and Mass Transfer Workshop (FEHM), March 3-5, 1997, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Fundamentals of Stochastic Modeling of Flow and Transport in Porous Formations, June 28 - July 2, 1993, International Ground Water Modeling Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado.
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