Transcanada Environmental Engineer Connects Community with Nature in Spokane

Growing up on the East Coast, Dan Maguire didn’t find a multitude of opportunities to be one with nature.

The Delaware River near his New Jersey home was badly polluted, but even at a young age, Maguire was able to find upstream waters that ran clean, allowing him to indulge his passion for outdoor pursuits.

New city, new environment

When Maguire found an opportunity to work as an engineer in TransCanada’s Environmental Services division in the Pacific Northwest, he jumped at the chance.

“Growing up in eastern New Jersey, it was hard to find such beautiful clean water like we have out here,” said Maguire. “There are so many opportunities to jump right in and get involved with the life of the community here that also involve the natural environment.”

Now based in Spokane, Washington, Maguire wasted little time getting plugged into local initiatives that involved being outside. TransCanada’s long-time sponsorship of a portion of the Spokane River Centennial Trail — 37 miles (60 kilometres) of converted roadway, former timberland and old railway routes parallel to the Spokane River — was an immediate outlet for what Dan called “servant leadership.”

“The Centennial Trail is a great example of what TransCanada does in its pipeline communities,” Maguire said. In addition to TransCanada’s donations to help keep the Trail in shape, Spokane employees and their families put boots on the ground each year to help the popular recreational facility.

TransCanada’s Community Action Team (CAT) provides another way for Dan and his colleagues to get involved in their region by sponsoring the Spokane River Forum, a not-for-profit that develops materials, special events and ongoing activities to promote a regional dialogue about how to sustain a healthy river system in a growing region.

“In cooperation with the Forum, we are very involved in helping prevent bank erosion — removing or reinforcing loose rock and soil,” Maguire explained. “We also work on providing authorized access points to help people get to the river safely. That includes stairs and, in some places, slides for water craft.”

Community leadership

Maguire is in a leadership position on the Spokane CAT team, and he is now vice president of both the Centennial Trail and the Spokane River Forum. He still finds time to be involved in Leadership Spokane, a year-long commitment that helps emerging community leaders plug into what the city has to offer with a focus on engaging the public in the variety of non-profit opportunities to serve.

“Maguire is a good example of the sort of people TransCanada is looking for in an environmental engineer,” said Maguire’s manager, Troy Aud. “We want people who are not only proficient in environmental science but who really care about the environment and their communities.”

“Dan’s involvement with Leadership Spokane has greatly enhanced TransCanada’s reputation as a leader in the community,” said Veryln Bailly, TransCanada’s community relations specialist in Spokane. “[He] is truly making a difference in our community.”

“We’re committed as employees and a company to getting people outside to realize how good we’ve got it here,” Maguire said. “Serving Centennial Trail and Spokane River Forum is a great way to apply the perspective of my generation in a way that connects the river, the people and the future of our community.”