If you are going to be in the Detroit, Michigan area on February 27th, join us for our “Off Ramps” seminar http://bit.ly/V4CJbF
Category Archives: Environmental Remediation
Frustrated with Environmental Remediation Efforts?
…then join us Thursday, October 25th (9 am to 11:30 am) at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, Michigan for our next environmental remediation seminar.
This is a fast-paced two-and-a-half hour seminar that will provide you with practical information. You will learn about site characterization and remediation with examples and case studies that show how proper characterization can save you money…in some cases BIG money. For more information click here http://bit.ly/UfSqLT.
If you are in the London, Ontario area, there is still time to sign up for the September 27th environmental remediation seminar http://bit.ly/Ot4EjX.
Vapor Intrusion: Update on EPA’s Actions
On April 12, 2012, one of my colleagues, Dr. Khaled Chekiri, attended the “USEPA and Region V States Vapor Intrusion Video Conference Roundtable.” The Video Conference was hosted by Barnes & Thornburg, LLP in their Grand Rapids, MI office.
Some of the issues discussed included:
- Decision making criteria for ruling VI in/out
- Screening levels for contaminants with no published inhalation toxicity criteria (e.g., cis-1,2-DCE, MTBE)
- Methane accumulation underneath buildings resulting from bioremediation of chlorinated compounds
- Standard method recommended by EPA (sampling, leak detection)
- The role of sub-slab pressure tests, indoor air tests; frequency of testing; the need for long-term monitoring
- Vapor movement through soils and VI conducted in wetter climates with various soil regimes
- Sub-slab testing protocols for large buildings (commercial/industrial settings)
- Coordination with OSHA
- Guidelines for dry cleaners who no longer use PCE (pick-up/drop off)
- Criteria for requiring installation of mitigation systems in residential and commercial settings
- Discussion of radon mitigation system applicability to vapor mitigation
- Long-term operation, maintenance, and monitoring guidelines for mitigation systems
- Passive and long-term sampling
- Decision making criteria when a VI mitigation system is no longer needed
- Post-mitigation testing regime for a building
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) stated they are still committed to November 2012 for final Vapor Intrusion (VI) guidance. The guidance will address changes in toxicity values for PCE and TCE, mitigation methods, vapors related to petroleum hydrocarbons, and acceptable institutional controls.
Finally, a document that provides a conceptual model scenario for the VI Pathway is available for free download at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion/. The model may provide a “visual” help in determining the source location for various site conditions. For example, the model shows that the distribution of petroleum compounds in soil gas can be very different from that of chlorinated compounds.
This is just a brief overview of the four-hour conference. If you have specific questions about VI, contact our Vice President of Technical Operations, Jeffrey Bolin, M.S., CHMM (jbolin@dragun.com) or Khaled Chekiri, Ph.D., P.E. (kchekiri@dragun.com) at 248-932-0228.
Please note: we continue to caution our clients to very carefully consider options before moving forward with any sampling related to assessing the potential impact of vapors.
For an overview of VI, see our March 2011 article in ESE “Vapour intrusion from soil and groundwater: A challenge for property owners”
Is There an Environmental Regulatory “Onslaught”?
Kathleen Hartnett White, writing for the Texas Public Policy Foundation says, “The U.S. economy, struggling to find a path back to sustained growth, stands in the cross-hairs of the Environmental Protection Agency’s heavy-handed regulatory onslaught. EPA, under the Obama administration, is churning out new rules unprecedented in speed, number, scope, stringency and costs.”
Ms White, a Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director for the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment also writes, “Never in its 40-year history has EPA simultaneously promulgated so many major environmental rules characterized by converging effective dates, massive compliance costs, and mandates exceeding existing technological controls. Nor has EPA before relied on such speculative, manipulated science to justify this most aggressive regulatory agenda to date.”
The 20-page paper provides a critique of 10 EPA rules
1. Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR);
2. Electric Utility Maximum Available Control Technology
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (Utility MACT);
3. Industrial Boiler MACT;
4. Portland Cement Kiln MACT;
5. Cooling Water Intake Structure Rule (CWIS);
6. Coal Combustion Residuals Rule (CCR);
7. Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS);
8. Particulate Matter (PM) NAAQS;
9. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Regulation of Stationary Sources;
10. GHG Regulation of Mobile Sources
The document can be found here http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2012-02-RR01-EPAsApproachingRegulatoryAvalanche-ACEE-KathleenHartnettWhite.pdf
Soil and Groundwater Remediation Seminar Returns to Toronto Area
Essential Information You MUST Have BEFORE You Begin Soil/Groundwater Remediation.
If you missed our seminars in April and October 2011, don’t miss this next opportunity!
“I was pleasantly surprised by the seminar. I usually attend this sort of thing with some degree of trepidation because it is usually 90% biased sales pitch wrapped in 10% useful information. Your seminar was almost 100% useful or potentially relevant. I wish I had seen it seven years ago, before we started our remediation.”
-A CEO who attended our Soil/Groundwater Remediation seminar
What’s worse than realizing you have to spend time and money on soil or groundwater remediation? Spending the time and money and getting no closer to the end point!
There is no doubt that there are many proven remediation methods and many contractors who can execute these remediation technologies…but…this should NOT be your starting point! Before you focus on solutions, make sure you clearly understand the problem and how the myriad of potential solutions apply to your specific situation. That is where our seminar will prove valuable to anyone who is now, or in the future, tasked with site remediation.
We will spend two hours helping you understand the fundamentals of site characterization and remedy selection. We will also discuss how to avoid common mistakes in site assessments and subsequent costly remediation.
Agenda:
- The basics of site characterization: What factors control what happens to releases?
- The fate and transport of releases in the subsurface: What’s with LNAPLs, DNAPLs, sinkers, floaters, retardation, etc.?
- Basics of site remediation: What is best for my site?
- How to reduce groundwater remediation efforts and expense
- Site remediation options
- How changes in O.Reg 511 affect site activities
- Mini-Case Studies
Senior Dragun associates, Dr. Michael Sklash, P.Eng. and Matthew Schroeder, M.S., will co-present. Mike and Matt have worked on site assessment and remediation projects together for more than 15 years.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
9:00 am to 11:00 am
(please arrive between 8:30 am and 9:00 am)
Best Western (Octaviens)
559 Bloor St. W.
Oshawa, ON L1J 5Y6
There is no cost to attend, but space is limited!
To reserve your space, contact Agnes
(amytych@dragun.com) at 519-979-7300
Application
It’s not the educational degree or degrees that solve the problems. It’s the individual that understands the problem and can apply their knowledge to solve the problem.
Don’t try to impress with diplomas, impress with results.
Correlation Does Not Equal Causation
Twisted logic: You used chemical A. Chemical A is found in the groundwater; therefore, you are responsible for the contaminated groundwater.
Correlation does not equal causation. Those involved in science and statistics are familiar with this phrase. Correlation between two variables does not automatically imply that one causes the other. Correlation might provide us a clue, but all of the variables must be examined.
Examining all the potential causal factors is work, but it is where truth is found.
What Happens To Chemicals in Soil?
Dr. James Dragun will once again teach his soil chemistry class at the 22nd Annual International Conference on Soil, Water, Energy, and Air. This is the 11th year Dr. Dragun has been asked to teach at this conference.
The conference will be held March 19-22, 2012, at the Mission Valley Marriott in San Diego, California.
For more information about the conference, click here http://tinyurl.com/79z9d6e.
For more information about the Dragun Corporation go to www.dragun.com
Beware the N Rays!
In 1903, French Physicist, René Prosper Blondlot (1849-1930) claimed he discovered a new type of radiation. He called the new radiation, the N-ray, named after Nancy, the name of the town and the university where he lived and worked. And Blondlot had his followers; dozens of other scientists who “confirmed” the existence of N-rays in their own laboratories (more than 50 technical papers were written on the subject).
Alas, N-rays don’t exist.
So, how could so many scientists be wrong? They were human and deceived themselves into thinking they were seeing something that just wasn’t so. They saw what they wanted to see with their instruments, not what was actually there.
Blondlot was not a charlatan; in fact, according to his Facebook page (yes even deceased scientists have Facebook pages), “He made the first measurement of the speed of radio waves, by measuring the wavelength using Lecher lines.”
Scientists, even good scientists, can be deceived. Focusing on the fundamentals of good science is as important today as it was in the 1800s. Whether we are trying to assess responsibility and an applicable cleanup approach for TCE in groundwater or assessing radiation – there is no substitute for good science.
An Environmental “How To” Seminar
How to avoid… Excessive Judgment costs, Excessive Settlement costs and Excessive Remediation costs!
There is no cost to attend, but space is limited. If you would like to attend, please make your reservations with Agnes (amytych@dragun.com) by February 10, 2012. The seminar will be held in our Farmington Hills, Michigan office.
For more information about this seminar, visit our website http://www.dragun.com/us/press/news/seminars/feb2012/index.htm
