I lost a
professional colleague this week. His name was Charles Button. I first met
Charlie when I was an Engineer with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and he was the Chief Engineer of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.
Our careers crossed paths later when I was made Chief Engineer for the Boston
Harbor Project for EPA and he the Chief Engineer for the Mass. Water Resources
Authority, the agency responsible for construction of the massive treatment plant
you now see on Deer Island.
He called me
one day and asked if I would like to take a train ride. “Sure, where are we
going.”It turned out he was going to make an inspection of the tunnel boring
machine that was currently gouging out a 24 foot diameter tunnel that would
eventually discharge wastewater out into Mass. Bay. The machine was down for
maintenance and he wanted to take a look at the progress in the tunnel. After
getting instructions on how to use the portable oxygen tanks we would be
carrying we descended by elevator 400 feet in the bowels of the earth. There we
boarded a narrow gauge train normally used to transport workers to the site. We
clicked and clacked our way out 8 miles to the machine. We crawled inside this
massive structure and visually inspected the grinding wheels. The operator
explained how he maintained alignment by focusing on a laser target always shining
on crosshairs immediately in front of him. It was an experience I have never forgotten.
Later Charlie
and I crossed paths again. I was and still am a volunteer for an Organization
called the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC).
Charlie was one of the Commissioners appointed by the Governor to serve on the
Commission. Although we were acquainted primarily by our professionals careers, I
like to believe we became close friends as well. He will be sorely missed by
all who knew him.
