Mr. Banks is a Member of the Board of Advisors of Primegrid Renewable Energy, Incorporated, with over 40 years of experience as a chemical plant expert and federal chemical incident investigator. He was a supervisory investigator at the United States Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) until his retirement in December 2017.

He spearheaded and led numerous CSB investigations and case studies. During his tenure at the CSB, Mr. Banks participated in investigations of incidents occurring at refineries, chemical plants, fixed facilities, pharmaceutical companies, waste disposal sites, and other industrial settings – all of which involved worker or citizen fatalities, significant environmental damage, or severe consequences to neighboring communities.

Before joining the CSB, he worked for 22 years at ChevronTexaco Corporation, in Richmond, California in Process Control and Operations. He has an extensive background in oil refining, plant operations, process control, turnarounds, and maintenance. At ChevronTexaco, Mr. Banks was instrumental in the implementation and coordination of a near-miss reporting and incident investigation-tracking program at the Richmond power plant and worked closely with other organizations in that process.  Johnnie is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.