Howard Cumberland is a prinicpal marine scientist based in Oregon with 20 years of environmental consulting experience. He specializes in remedial planning and negotiation strategies as well as developing and implementing remedial investigation, design, and restoration solutions associated with contaminated sediments and waterfront development activities.

Practice Specialties
Mr. Cumberland focuses on ports and harbors, providing strategic consulting services to owners and tenants on the evaluation, design and permitting of nearshore, in-water activities such as maintenance dredging, contaminated sediment remediation, and waterfront redevelopment. He has in-depth training and experience related to the ecological impacts associated with contaminated sediments and surface waters. He also has in-depth familiarity and experience with the numerous state and federal regulatory programs that govern dredged material and contaminated sediments projects.

During his career, Mr. Cumberland has managed, designed, permitted, and/or implemented remedial investigations, feasibility studies, removal actions, remedial actions and post-removal/remedail action monitoring for a variety of industrial, port, and public sector clients working under federal and state regulatory programs. He has successfully completed projects across the United States, and in Mexico, Guam, and Australia.

Throughout his career, Mr. Cumberland has pursued solutions involving innovative applications of proven technologies as well as emerging technologies to meet cleanup objectives while at the same time minimizinghis client’s operational impacts and/or the cost to achieve sediment remediation objectives. His emphasis on beneficial use has led to significant reductions in disposal costs at specific sites, and his understanding of the evaluation of contaminants and their sources, coupled with risk communication, has been essential to successfully gaining stakeholder support for his clients. He is adept at strategic planning and at interacting with and negotiating with regulatory agencies as well as among PRPs with divergent interests. 

Advancing the State-of-the-Practice  
Mr. Cumberland routinely publishes and gives presentations on contaminated sediment and maintenance dredging topics. He is a member of the Western Dredging Association, American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), and the Society of Ecology, Toxicology, and Chemistry (SETAC).