Chemistry Technician II

Agency Dept of Environmental Quality Division Water Resources Job Classification Title Chemistry Technician II (S) Position Number  Grade NC07

About Us The primary mission of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is to provide science-based environmental stewardship for the health and prosperity of all North Carolinians. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is the lead stewardship agency for the protection of North Carolina's environmental resources. The organization, which has offices from the mountains to the coast, administers regulatory programs designed to protect air quality, water quality, and the public's health, and works to advance in all-of-the-above energy strategy that fits North Carolina's needs.

DEQ also offers technical assistance to businesses, farmers, local governments, and the public and encourages responsible behavior with respect to the environment through education programs provided at DEQ facilities and through the state's school system. DEQ touches the lives of all North Carolinians in many ways to enhance and ensure our quality of life.

Description of Work The Chemistry Technician II performs quantitative analysis of environmental samples (e.g. drinking water, surface water, groundwater, rainwater, animal waste lagoons, waste water, soil, sediment, sludge, tissue) for metals parameters including aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, boron, calcium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, lithium, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nickel, potassium, selenium, silver, strontium, thallium, tin, titanium, vanadium, and zinc.

• - Accept samples daily and sign chain of custody forms once they have been checked in by the Support Unit and assigned a laboratory number.
• - Ensure that instruments are calibrated and operating properly and that biochemical analysis systems are operating under appropriate controls before any samples are analyzed.
• - Perform quantitative analyses using automated flow injection cold vapor technique for mercury and inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma/mass spectroscopy, and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy for other metals.
• - Ensure specific guidelines for quality assurance (QA) standards are met; monitor and determine the cause when the quality control (QC) limits for accuracy and precision are not achieved.
• - Track the progress of analyses by referring to LIMS records, determining which samples have been completed, validated, and reported.

Knowledge

Skills and Abilities

/Management Preferences Recruitment Range: $ 37,377.00 - $ 39,582.00

Important:
This posting closes at 11:59:59 PM the night BEFORE the End Date above. Job posting details will no longer be available after the position closes.

The Division of Water Resources (DWR) is responsible for protecting North Carolina’s drinking, surface, and ground water for all water bodies including lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands, and aquifers. This environmental stewardship is accomplished through actions including permitting issuance, investigations, regulatory compliance, and enforcement, monitoring and field assessments, certifications, laboratory analysis and testing, planning, water quality standards management, educational outreach, and other efforts.

The Division comprises six sections:
Water Quality Regional Operations, Water Sciences, Public Water Supply, Water Quality Permitting, Water Quality NPDES Permitting, and Water Planning.

The Water Sciences Section provides the Division of Water Resources with scientific and technical support required to monitor, regulate and manage water quality throughout North Carolina. The eight branches of the section, comprised of biologists, chemists, environmental specialists, and technical support staff, evaluate the state's aquatic resources through a variety of specialized biological, chemical, and physical techniques. These evaluations provide the basis for sound scientific decisions in the division's efforts to protect and enhance North Carolina's waters.

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