Dan Elliott, Ph.D.; Joseph Cleary, PE, BCEE; and Matt Basso, CHMM (New Jersey) presented "Pharmaceuticals in the Environment – The Chemical Basis for the Problem and Potential Solutions" at a meeting of the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Westchester Chapter at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York on December 5, 2019.
Joseph Cleary, PE, BCEE and Daniel Elliott, Ph.D. (New Jersey) are scheduled to present "Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: Status and the Treatment Alternatives" at Manhattan College in the Bronx, New York at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 17, 2018.
Daniel Elliott (New Jersey) co-authored the article entitled "Selectivity of Nano Zerovalent Iron in In Situ Chemical Reduction: Challenges and Improvements," which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Remediation, Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 27-40, September 6, 2016.
Dan Elliott (New Jersey) co-authored an article entitled "Remediation of Hexachlorocyclohexanes by Electrochemically Activated Persulfates" in the Environmental Science and Pollution Research Journal, Volume 23, Issue 1, pages 765-773, January 2016.
Government regulations for air quality and emissions continue to rapidly evolve. Companies must understand, plan for, and adhere to rapidly changing requirements including monitoring, testing, emissions control, recordkeeping, and reporting. Attaining and maintaining compliance while minimizing operational and financial impacts can be a challenge, particularly in today’s regulatory climate. Geosyntec's comprehensive understanding of air quality laws and regulations, along with our expertise in state-of-the-practice emissions control and monitoring technologies, equip us to provide our clients with innovative and cost-effective solutions for their air quality compliance challenges. Our practitioners offer clients a broad array of services, including permitting, compliance reporting, and air pollution control technology selection and optimization. Our projects routinely involve minor and major source air permitting, compliance assistance, and regulatory negotiations, as well as air pollution control equipment troubleshooting, optimization, and testing. Air Permitting On behalf of clients, we create unique solutions that often help them avoid major source permitting requirements, like Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) or nonattainment area New Source Review (NSR). Relying on our extensive knowledge of operating permit programs and our experience in a broad range of industries and emissions sources, we offer clients permitting assistance that aligns with federal, state, and local air jurisdictions. We craft strategic approaches to air quality challenges. When major source permitting cannot be avoided, our air dispersion modelers and control technology experts know how to respond to challenges associated with major source permitting requirements. Geosyntec’s experts address control technology evaluations, including Best Available Control Technology (BACT) and Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER) evaluations. They are also adept at understanding and conducting ambient air impact analyses, like National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) increments, and state toxic air pollutant (TAP) demonstrations. Air Compliance and Reporting With federal, state, and local air quality regulations constantly in flux, maintaining compliance can be a burden on businesses. Our nuanced understanding of policies, regulations, and drivers empowers us to craft effective and efficient compliance solutions for our clients to help them address challenges and remain in compliance. Together, we develop frameworks for comprehensive environmental management strategies that help clients meet air compliance and reporting requirements. Some of the compliance programs we helped design include those governing emission inventory reporting; Title V annual and semiannual reporting; greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting; and deviation reporting. Evaluation and Optimization of Air Quality Control Devices Our practitioners evaluate air pollution control devices and advise clients to help them meet emission standards and minimize operational costs. Our project experience includes combustion management and tuning for boilers, thermal oxidizers, and other combustion devices. We also specialize in area and source measurement of complex pollutants such as mercury, sulfur trioxide (SO3) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), Geosyntec has installed state-of-the-practice hardware and software using cross-duct lasers to continuously monitor ammonia (NH3) and SO3. In addition, we can assist clients with selection of continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) and offer operational assistance, data management, and equipment maintenance. Continuous Emission Monitoring System Design and Ambient Air Monitoring Geosyntec has supported clients with development of comprehensive environmental management strategies, optimization of plant operations, and increasing efficiency of their air emissions control systems. This has included installation, evaluation, and enhancement of CEMS at point sources and ambient air monitoring systems for fence line or offsite monitoring. Air Litigation Support Leading law firms throughout the United States seek technical support from Geosyntec due to our expertise and credibility providing litigation support. Geosyntec provides resources for attorneys to advocate for their clients’ interests on a myriad of air subjects related to business transactions, environmental management, compliance and enforcement, toxic tort, and general litigation topics. Geosyntec’s team of senior air professionals frequently provide expert witness testimony opinion reports, claims assessments, and agency negotiations and settlement support. Advancing the State of the Practice Experts in process and air pollution control technology design, we help clients develop strategic approaches to complex, multipollutant emission issues and provide clients with a balanced approach to plant operations. In the electric power industry, Geosyntec practitioners design strategies that reduce the amount of coal required to produce energy through improvements in fuel use, waste generation systems, and air pollution controls. Optimal air pollution controls, such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR, or thermal oxidizers), can result in substantial fuel savings and decrease emissions through improved performance of control devices. Geosyntec practitioners frequently collaborate with colleagues and industry peers at the USEPA, the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA), and other organizations on new strategies for reducing air quality impacts. These collaborate strategies involve NOx control, mercury capture, scrubber optimization for heavy metals, catalyst selection and optimization, and plume opacity mitigation. In addition, our experts have developed methods to measure emissions of specific pollutants under complex operating conditions which have been accepted by air agencies across the country. Representative Services Air Permitting for New Facilities and Facility Expansions Air Pollution Control Engineering Ambient Air Monitoring and Source Testing Program Support Air Dispersion Modeling, Accidental Release, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling Carbon Management and Greenhouse Gas Inventories Compliance Reporting and Auditing Services Capital Project Permitting Assessments Emission Inventories and Mobile Source Studies Feedstock Testing Analyses to maximize Air Pollution Source Control Health Risk Assessments Indoor Air Quality Monitoring and Management Litigation Support and Expert Witness Testimony Odor and Noise Modeling, Monitoring, and Control Operator and Employee Training Process Engineering and Controls Optimization Regulatory Strategy and Compliance Management Strategic Technical Support to Trade Associations
Geosyntec's air quality clients need services for emission control, device conceptual design and selection, feasibility, monitoring, evaluation, and optimization for their facilities. We help clients evaluate emission controls under complex regulatory and operational conditions, and we advise them about how to meet emission standards. We also work closely with clients on the selection of air pollution control technologies that minimize operational costs while still meeting the stringent control efficiencies required by federal and local regulations. Selection of optimal control technology includes consideration of the potential for the generation and removal of secondary pollutants such as combustion by-products, reactive compounds, greenhouse gas emissions, or waste or wastewater streams. With expertise in process design, as well as air pollution control technology design, Geosyntec’s engineers develop strategic approaches to complex, multipollutant emission challenges. These challenges are brought about by evolving emission standards on existing equipment and operations, new capital project expansions, facilities, and emission sources. Our portfolio includes finding ways to control gaseous pollutants using methods including scrubbing, adsorption, condensation, catalytic reduction, and oxidation. We also address combustion management and best operating practices for boilers, thermal oxidizers, engines, and combustion devices. In addition, we design particulate filtration, precipitation, and collection systems, dust control approaches, and other ways to control toxic air contaminants. We measure control system performance by applying standard emission measurement protocols, United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) test methods, and other acceptable evolving measurement science to determine compliance or reduction potential for common criteria air pollutants. Our work often addresses emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter, as well as toxic air contaminants and dangerous compounds like mercury and sulfur trioxide (SO3). Geosyntec installs state-of-the-practice hardware and software that uses cross-duct laser technology to continuously monitor ammonia (NH3) and SO3. We help clients select continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) and programs for CEM compliance with federal state and consent decree monitoring provisions. Additionally, we prepare CEM data quality assurance and quality.
Under many jurisdictions, facility owners are required to evaluate potential offsite air quality impacts to gain regulatory approvals. Our clients need consultants with experience running air dispersion models. These models use mathematical algorithms to characterize atmospheric processes, to understand how pollutants disperse, and to predict ambient concentrations of air contaminants. Geosyntec applies models to demonstrate compliance with allowable ground-level concentrations established by regulatory agencies. We have experience applying various air dispersion models ranging from those that predict ground-level concentrations from continuous emission sources to consequence analysis models used to assess impacts from unplanned catastrophic events. We use air dispersion modeling to assist clients with regulatory and nonregulatory air modeling projects, including permit applications to address ambient air quality and air toxic requirements. Our team works closely with clients to assess plant layout and stack location configurations to avoid negative impacts on the regional airshed and local communities. In addition, our practitioners conduct modeling to evaluate potential offsite impacts associated with risk assessments and hazard analyses. Our modelers are experienced with AERMOD/AERSURFACE/AERSCREEN/SCREEN3, CALPUFF, ALOHA, SLAB and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models. Our advanced collection and measurement methods help us generate robust data for air dispersion models that describe the complex behavior of pollutants in the air and how they interact with their environment. Our air dispersion modeling experience includes emerging pollutants such as ethylene oxide (C2H4O) and PFAS. Armed with this data, our engineers and scientists can accurately assess how a source affects a particular area and consult with clients on developing comprehensive environmental management strategies.
Geosyntec helps clients determine performance and the cost of air pollution control techniques. These techniques are designed to reduce or eliminate emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and regulated air toxics from industrial and commercial sources. Our air practitioners offer decades of experience measuring and mitigating adverse environmental and health effects caused by HAPs regulated under the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act in the United States. We address client challenges at major and area sources across the country involving air toxics such as benzene, perchloroethylene, methylene chloride, ethylene oxide, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Geosyntec's scientists and engineers employ advanced solutions to identify emission stream characteristics from sources located at a variety of industries. We assist clients with selection and implementation of the best mitigation and control systems for their facilities, and we provide permitting assistance under federal, state, and local air construction and operating permit programs. Geosyntec practitioners specialize in process design and air pollution control technology design that helps us develop strategic approaches to complex, multipollutant emission issues. Our process engineering and air pollution control experts provide clients with a balanced approach to their plant operations.
Navigating climate change risks is increasingly critical for businesses worldwide. These include two distinct kinds of risk: those associated with transitioning to a lower-carbon economy and the physical risks of a changing climate. The risks involved with transitioning to a lower-carbon economy include policy and legal, technology, and market and reputational risks associated with reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and decarbonizing in general. Transition risks to industrial clients are often closely associated with how air quality is managed at facilities and how rapidly changing regulations affect the work our clients do. They must navigate issues including the following: measuring the GHGs they generate; choosing the best technologies for detection, estimating, accounting, and reporting; and identifying and acting upon opportunities to reduce emissions. Geosyntec’s air practitioners stay up to date on the evolving climate change and GHG policies in order to advise on low-carbon strategies to minimize these risks. Low-carbon strategies include considering opportunities for process improvements in energy efficiency, manufacturing processes changes, product or feedstock substitution, renewable energy, use of low-carbon fuels, carbon capture and storage, and carbon sequestration. Often, our solutions involve innovative technologies, which can also include consulting related to how current or future policy might accommodate innovation. We help clients estimate the costs, benefits, and economic and other impacts of implementing carbon reduction technologies and practices. One of the fundamental aspects of a GHG strategy is quantifying emissions with the proper level of accuracy and including the proper boundaries for assessing the extent of a client’s Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions. Geosyntec’s experts develop emission inventories for many reporting and strategic planning purposes that include direct Scope 1 source or facility emissions, indirect Scope 2 emissions from energy use, and Scope 3 emissions within the value chain. These inventories can take the form of submittals to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the mandatory reporting rule (MRR) or other jurisdictions, serve as underpinning for corporate reports relying on the GHG protocol, or provide clients with a basic carbon footprint for sustainability planning. Our air practitioners apply multiple protocols for data collection, accuracy, and reporting from federal and state programs, international and industry trade organizations, and client-specific guidelines. We advise clients as they develop these protocols. Additionally, we minimize risk for our clients by conducting informal audits of their GHG inventories to prepare for third-party verification in states like California and Washington that require mandatory GHG inventory verification. We also develop GHG monitoring plans and help detect and reduce methane leaks. Geosyntec has worked for years addressing environmental challenges at landfills, and we maintain a landfill gas management practice. We help with planning, design, permitting, construction, and operation of landfill gas collection and control systems, as well as methane migration mitigation in the subsurface. Additionally, we assess GHG impacts of proposed new development or planned modifications of capital projects during project planning, permitting, and licensing. Regarding physical risks, Geosyntec's cross-functional team of practitioners conduct climate change studies and climate impact evaluations to help clients understand how changes in the weather, like heat waves and incidents of climate cooling or air stagnation, can affect their facilities, operations, and bottom line. Usually, these studies examine temperature and precipitation trends influenced by climate change, and our team can apply modeling tools to help identify strategies for mitigating climate change effects.
Clients in the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, and consumer-health industries must maintain strict compliance across facilities and geographies while also addressing complex environmental issues throughout their supply chains.
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