Utility Management

Talking Under Water Episode 62: Diversity, equity & inclusion in the water sector

Feb. 17, 2023

In this month’s episode, the hosts discuss the Norfolk Southern East Palestine train derailment, new funding for emerging contaminants and share an interview on DE&I in the water industry.

Katie Johns,

Bob Crossen

In this month’s episode, the hosts discuss The Norfolk Southern East Palestine train derailment, new funding for emerging contaminants and share an interview on DE&I in the water industry.

In this month’s episode of Talking Under Water co-hosts Bob Crossen and Katie Johns share an update on the The Norfolk Southern East Palestine train derailment’s impact on surface and groundwater in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania and touch on new funding for emerging contaminants in drinking water through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Additionally, this month’s interview dives into diversity, equity and inclusion in the water sector with W&T Contracting Corporation co-owners and brothers Wiley and Terrell Richards. The Richardses talked with Johns about their careers, goals, advice and more.

Show Notes:

Timestamps:

Cold open | 0:00
Episode summary | :057
The Norfolk Southern East Palestine Train derailment | 1:51
Emerging contaminant funding | 8:48
Interview intro | 11:06
Interview starts | 11:25
Wiley & Terrell Richards’ career paths | 12:10
About W&T Contracting Corporation |14:42
The importance of mentorship programs | 18:20
MBE requirements | 20:13
DE&I evolution | 22:18
Addressing the staffing shortage | 24:52
Advice | 26:36
Subcontract at Ford Blue Oval Plant | 27:55
Final thoughts | 29:58
Interview ends | 31:05
Housekeeping | 31:22
End | 33:45

Award Programs:

StormCon Discount:

Talking Under Water listeners have access to a special discount code to register for this year's StormCon. When registering, use the code ONEWATER10 to receive a 10% discount on your conference registration. Visit bit.ly/stormconreg2023 to register and use the code.

About the Podcast

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Water & Wastes Digest (WWD), Water Quality Products (WQP) and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, point of use, point of entry, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts for WWD, WQP and SWS. New episodes of the podcast are released on the third Friday of every month. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] or engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.

About the Author

Katie Johns

Katie Johns, editor-in-chief of Storm Water Solutions and Water Quality Products, graduated from the University of Missouri in 2016 with a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Johns joined the Storm Water Solutions team in September 2019. Johns also helps plan the annual StormCon conference and co-hosts the Talking Under Water podcast. Prior to entering the B2B industry, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Sarasota, Florida, and a magazine assistant editor in the Chicago suburbs. She can be reached at [email protected]

About the Author

Bob Crossen

Bob Crossen is the editorial director for the Endeavor Business Media Water Group, which publishes WaterWorld, Wastewater Digest and Stormwater Solutions. Crossen graduated from Illinois State University in Dec. 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in German and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. He worked for Campbell Publications, a weekly newspaper company in rural Illinois outside St. Louis for four years as a reporter and regional editor.