Chicago´s Paul Ruesch is getting his hands dirty in Mexico, and loving it.

Running hand augers and sampling oil-soaked soil as a Peace Corp volunteer has energized the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency engineer. In the midst of a two-year stint in Mexico -- the Peace Corps´ first in that country -- Ruesch has shed his white-collar duties at EPA for a more hands-on experience.

Ruesch, 36, and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, is one of 25 volunteers advising Mexican businesses and government officials. Instead of organizing conferences about industrial byproducts from the EPA´s Chicago office, Ruesch spends his days at landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Of late, he´s in Leon in central Mexico helping that region´s leather and tanning industries reduce their environmental impact.

Ruesch´ s main role is as teacher. He also assists Mexican co-workers on project bids. "When we win them, I help them select the appropriate equipment, buy it and then show them how to use it," he said.

Ruesch, now fluent in Spanish after starting from scratch, will leave behind the equipment and, hopefully, pass along some know-how to colleagues, including scientists at the oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or PEMEX.

Before Mexico, Ruesch´s travels abroad opened his eyes "to environmental conditions which made the problems I was working on back home pale in comparison."

Mexico´s small, dry and remote landfills don´t generate much leachate or pose great risks to drinking water. Yet, Ruesch said, there is little oversight on where and how these disposal sites operate. More eye opening, though, are the large groups of pepenedores, or garbage pickers, that sift through trash on the working face of Mexican landfills, separating anything that can be reused or sold.

"It is not uncommon to see whole families dedicated to this practice [and] specialize in one particular commodity. The others working a particular landfill will respect each other´s domain and not touch the materials that they know another family is recovering," he said.

Ruesch´s presence on the Peace Corps team has aided Mexico´s National Council on Science and Technology, too. The council and U.S. EPA are collaborating on a number of projects, thanks to Ruesch, said Hector Raul Pacheco-Vega, senior researcher at the council´s Leon office.

"[Paul] is a very kind and collaborative person," Pacheco-Vega said. "He´s been really helpful in revising journal articles and conference papers for several of our peers, myself included."

Byron Battle, the Peace Corps´ director in Mexico, also praised Ruesch for his problem-solving skills and for quickly taking charge of a project at an oil refinery.

Ruesch talks about heading further south after his Peace Corps´ tour ends in a year. He doesn´t want to waste his new language skills and is keen on exploring other environmental issues in Latin America. Naturally, he feels the tug from family and friends, and from his work at the EPA, in Chicago.

"Although you can find anything in Mexico, I am still looking for an Italian beef sandwich and an Old Style beer," he said.

Contact Waste News managing editor Brennan Lafferty at (330) 865-6174 or blafferty@crain.com