Environmental Field Technician

Name: Alexis Boston, 22

Company: Safety Clean Inc., North Andover

Do you like your job? It's a little dirty, but fun.

What does the job entail? I do a lot of maintenance on machines, clean up hazardous wastes, and, if there are oil spills on the Saugus River, I throw out booms. The booms, which are like pillows, absorb oil. Then, I use a skimmer to skim the top layer of oil out of the water. The oil is then put into drums and labeled.

Do you wear a special suit? We wear protective gear such as apron sleeves, gloves, or yellow suits that offer more protection. Sometimes we wear white suits that keep hazardous dust and chemicals off us. And, we sometimes wear green nitriles, which are special green gloves. . .You really have to be careful. If you don't wear the right protection, metal chips can get into your fingers, or acid can spill on you.

What's the most dangerous job you've had? One summer I was doing the excavation of a basement. The owner of the house had moved the oil tank, and the oil company didn't realize it. They ended up dumping 70 gallons of oil onto the basement floor. We had to use heavy machinery to break up the basement floor because the oil had seeped through cracks in the floor. We were 6 feet down into the hole, and it was very hot. The lights we used were giving off a lot of heat. Plus, if anyone had lit a match the whole thing would have exploded. It was kind of scary being down there.

How much do you make? I'd rather not say. I wouldn't do this work if I was making $7 an hour.

How did you get into this field? I went through a job training program in Boston called Jobs for Youth.

Are you an adventurous person? Yeah, pretty much. My parents aren't that thrilled about this job, though. They think I'm rebelling. My parents are waiting for me to come to my senses and go back to college. I like doing this because it gives me a chance to explore exactly what I want to do in the environmental field. Eventually, I'd like to be an environmental health and safety officer.