Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Memorials

With a reputation built on hard work, accountability, and unwavering commitment to excellence, Ernie Rush serves as Director of Industrial Cleaning Services for Octane Environmental. Throughout his career, Ernie has established himself as a respected leader known for delivering results safely, efficiently, and on schedule.

For Ernie, the most rewarding part of the job is simple: completing the work and exceeding client expectations. His philosophy is that every project, regardless of size or complexity, deserves the same level of dedication and professionalism. Under his leadership, industrial sites that begin as challenging, heavily impacted locations are transformed into clean, organized, environmentally compliant facilities that clients can be proud of.

Ernie oversees highly trained crews specializing in industrial cleaning, environmental remediation, tank cleaning, vacuum truck services, site restoration, and equipment decontamination. His teams follow proven procedures and detailed project plans to ensure every job is completed safely, efficiently, and within the client’s required timeline.

A strong believer in accountability, Ernie views every project as a reflection of both his personal reputation and Octane’s commitment to excellence. “When our name is on a job, we take ownership of the outcome. We don’t just complete the work—we make sure it’s done right.” 

That dedication has earned the trust of numerous repeat clients throughout the oil and gas industry. Whether cleaning a production site, restoring a well pad, maintaining equipment, or supporting emergency response operations, Ernie ensures every customer receives the highest level of service. 

Raised in a small town in Ohio, Ernie developed the work ethic and discipline that continue to define his leadership today. Growing up in a household where responsibility, integrity, and accountability were daily expectations, he learned early that success comes from consistent effort and attention to detail.   (Read Ernie's full story HERE.)

Seven dogs, acres of property with kennels to maintain, travel 20-25 weekends a year (to dog shows), and a full-time day job supporting the finance function of Octane. Oh yes, and a family who are “all in” with raising, training, boarding, breeding and caring for dogs and horses! With a little singing and soccer on the side. This is Octane controller Mari Jones’ life, and she loves it.

“My passions are accounting and showing and breeding dogs!” was Mari’s answer when asked. She laughingly added: “I work so that I can afford to show my dogs.”

While her love for numbers and accounting grew during school and early employment experiences, Mari said her mom was preparing her from her time in utero to love dogs. “My mom was showing dogs when she was carrying me, and I grew up loving and caring for them.” 

Her mother Ann has been breeding dogs for nearly 65 years, so her passion also runs deep. The family’s kennel name is Bujo Kennels, which is a combination of a beloved bulldog and the first letters of Mari’s surname.

It’s a hobby that requires dedication and time, too. With her mother and “adopted sister” (dear friend) Erica, Mari can travel up to 25 weekends a year in either a 42-foot RV or a smaller van, depending on how near to home the dog shows take place. She grew up north of Houston in Conroe, Texas, where there is an active kennel club that hosts several dog shows each year. “There is a big dog show community in Houston,” Mari said. A lot of work goes into the care of the beautiful, well-behaved animals we see on televised dog shows.

Day-to-day, Mari is directly responsible for the health, exercise and medical care for four Doberman Pinschers, one Standard Schnauzer, and two Beagles. With her mom’s five dogs (two labrador retrievers, two beagles and one Pumi (a Hungarian herding dog)), their award-winning Bentley the Basset Hound (who travels full time with his professional handler), and Erica’s five Basset Hounds, one Doberman and one beagle, their close trio of dog handlers lovingly feeds, cleans, exercises and cares for 20 dogs! And that does not count the horses her mom boards at her neighboring property.

“All of our dogs, except the new puppies, are Champions or Grand Champions,” Mari said proudly. “Bentley is an American Kennel Club Platinum Grand Champion Basset Hound who has been the nation’s number-one basset hound the last three years.”  (Read Mari's full story HERE.)

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela

Each life is shaped by challenges. Perhaps the most important measure of a life is not whether a person has fallen, but what he chooses to do after he gets back up.

For the people who know “Big Mike” Lowe today, that may be difficult to imagine. At Octane Environmental, Mike is one of the reasons that Octane is known for its safety and work quality. He is a talented, hard-working professional, a field supervisor who pays attention to details, takes pride in doing a job right, and can be counted on when the work gets difficult. He holds every certification possible for his job, is a mentor to younger employees and is an important part of the teams he works with. After eight years with Octane, he has developed a deep knowledge of industrial cleaning and every challenge that comes with the work. 

But Mike’s life did not begin that way. His journey took him through one of the darkest and most difficult chapters imaginable—and ultimately toward an unexpected place of service, responsibility and redemption.

A Life That Took a Wrong Turn

Mike grew up in West Virginia and spent part of his youth in Texas, where he became a standout high-school football player in Fort Worth. He dreamed of attending college, studying criminal justice and pursuing a career in law enforcement.

Those plans changed dramatically.

During a troubled period of his young adulthood, Mike struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. A fight ended with the death of another young man. Mike owns and accepts responsibility for his actions.

Mike was incarcerated and ultimately spent 23 years in West Virginia state prisons, followed by parole. He served time at Mount Olive, Huttonsville and St. Mary’s Correctional Institutions, earning transfers to less strict prisons by maintaining a clean record.

Twenty-three years is a very long time. But Mike's story is more about what he did with those years, rather than their length.  (Read Mike's full story HERE.)

 Imagine leaving your home country at age 12 and moving to a new home, halfway around the world, where you don’t speak one word of the language, where even the alphabet’s characters are foreign. Suddenly, everything you are familiar with – climate, social customs, school, friends, language, and food – is new and strange. 

That jarring relocation happened to one of Octane Environmental’s longest-serving employees, Keophouvong Syharaj1 – better known by his nickname, “Pa”. Pa’s journey has taken him from Laos to 17 U.S. states during his career. It has also introduced him to world-famous performers. For the last nine years, however, he has found his home and his happiness in West Virginia, on the job and with a work family at Octane.

Pa celebrates 45 years of life in the U.S.A. in 2026. En route to his job at Octane as a trusted liner and industrial cleaning technician and maintenance team member, those years were filled with twists and turns. 

Pa’s story begins in Laos, where he was born in 1969. Due to political circumstances there in the 1970s, Communist authorities worried that his parents, physicians in a local hospital, might not be sympathetic to the regime. His mother was imprisoned in a re-education camp. After her release, Pa’s parents left Laos as quickly as they could. (Read Pa's full story HERE.)