Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty this week congratulated William Feher, of Luzerne County, and Richard Beam, of Somerset County, for winning a Governor’s Award for Excellence.

The annual awards recognize the exemplary accomplishments of Commonwealth employees and were presented by Gov. Rendell during a ceremony in Harrisburg.

“I am continually amazed and impressed by the dedication and tireless efforts of our state employees, both on the job and in their communities,” said Secretary McGinty. “The initiative and leadership shown by these two men is to be commended. I congratulate them for their tremendous efforts and their commitment to exceptional public service.”

Feher, an environmental program specialist in the waste management program at DEP’s Northeast regional office in Wilkes-Barre, was the winner of the Community Service Award for his work with the Wyoming Valley Children’s Association. For the past 12 years, Feher has helped organize the Wyoming Valley Motorcycle Show to benefit the Wyoming Valley Children’s Association—a nonprofit organization that provides therapy and early childhood education for children age five or younger who demonstrate developmental and neurological disabilities.

The motorcycle show is held at the Kingston Armory in Luzerne County, and, with the help of Feher’s hard work and dedication, has generated nearly $67,000.

Feher has been recognized with the Golden Apple Award for Volunteer Excellence by the association.

Richard Beam, a geologist with DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s Cambria office, was this year's recipient of the Initiative/Innovation Award. The award recognizes employees whose work results in increased productivity or efficiencies through innovative ideas that clearly surpass expectations and goals.

Beam used a drilling technique that is common in the mine industry to control discharges from two abandoned mine pools that were damaging homes and could have risked the loss of life, impacted nearby infrastructure, or caused a catastrophic mine blowout.

For more than 10 years, Beam has made noteworthy contributions to the commonwealth with his in-depth knowledge of coal geology, hydrogeology and mining technology. Those qualities were evidenced in his conceptualization of how the directional drilling technique could address high-priority problems.

This innovative application also earned Beam the 2007 Federal Office of Surface Mining Eastern Regional Award.

The awards are presented as part of Public Employee Recognition Week, which is celebrated during the first week of May. During the week, state employees are recognized for their efforts to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars as they continue to address complex problems with innovative solutions that maximize public services and minimize costs.

For more information on the state employee awards.

5/16/2008