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Hidden Jobs Become Visible To Las Cruces Students

Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) trucks were onsite and lined up in all their shapes and sizes. It was Career Day at Desert Trails Elementary school in Chaparral, and students were catching a glimpse of the heavy equipment necessary to provide multiple utility services to a large population…as well as peeking at possible career futures for themselves.

From the green grappler with its powerful large jaws capable of lifting heavy loads of green waste, to the front loader that hauls away commercial trash with a booming thud…the LCU Solid Waste Section was there and the students were impressed!

The LCU Gas Section provided a specialized “sniffer” truck that detects possible gas leaks. Adam Valles, LCU gas leak/corrosion technician, detailed the benefits, but also the danger of natural gas. Since gas is odorless by nature, an additive to the gas adds a stinky smell - much like rotten eggs - for safety.

Here Valles handed out cards that are Scratch and Sniff in the worst way and smell like a gas leak, which elicited laughter and “ewwws.” He recommended to the children sitting cross-legged in front of him that if they smell that, they should get their parents to call LCU.

Valles shows off some of the tools that the crew uses to find gas leaks and even to stake holes. He then asked for volunteers from the class to try to detect a leak; hands shot up eagerly. Along the ground he marked off areas with spray paint for a student to use the gas detector.

Two students stepped forward to be outfitted with the actual unit that the Gas Section uses and slowly walked the line to “sniff” the ground around the marked areas - this time, no leak was detected.

“This type of outreach lets students imagine themselves in a job like this, just as they’d see the helmets and oxygen tanks from firefighters,” explains LCU Director Jorge A. Garcia, Ph.D., P.E. “They realize that these jobs are just as necessary to keeping people safe and making sure that everyone has safe access to gas and water, and how the city is kept clean.”

LCU believes it's critical to plant seeds early and expose young people to future careers; that's why staff from the Gas, Water, and Solid Waste Sections, as well as Administrative Services (Management Analyst) and Regulatory Environmental Services/Technical Support (Pollution Prevention & Water Quality Lab) spent time with Desert Trails students. It’s about sharing the science of their work and encouraging students to take a fresh look at their own futures.

Submitted by Las Cruces Utilities

You can reach Las Cruces Utilities at 528-3500 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides GAS – WATER – WASTEWATER – SOLID WASTE services to approximately 100,000 Las Cruces residents and businesses.