Julie Stanaszek, a senior civil engineer in Bellevue, WA, recently accomplished the notable achievement of becoming the third woman in the U.S. to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to perform as an independent consultant on FERC Part 12D dam safety inspections. FERC is an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that regulates interstate transmission of energy resources, including licensing of hydropower projects.
On each FERC approval application for hydropower projects, licensees must demonstrate the extensive dam safety experience of their proposed experts, who must have more than 10 years of in-depth project experience specific to dam engineering, including dam design, construction and investigation of the safety of existing dams. FERC requires an approval specific to each individual project, differing from other industry certifications or licenses that are granted with annual or lifetime authorization.
Julie received her first FERC approval in April 2011 to conduct independent consultant inspections for the Henry M. Jackson Hydroelectric Project in Washington as part of Snohomish County Public Utility District’s FERC application. She received another approval later that year for the Nevada Irrigation District’s Yuba-Bear Hydroelectric Project in California.
Julie joins 10 of her fellow MWH colleagues who have also been approved to conduct independent consultant inspections for FERC, a testament to MWH expertise and industry leadership in dam safety. “I was very fortunate to have participated as a team member on a number of dam safety inspections with Glenn Tarbox and other MWH dam safety staff and industry leaders that prepared me for approval as an independent consultant, ” she says.
Pictured is Julie as she performs an inspection at Seattle City Light’s Boundary Dam in Washington
