Geosyntec's Melissa Schmitt (Washington), Srinivasa Varadhan, and Eric Suchomel (California) partnered with SiREM employees Sandra Dworatzek and Jennifer Webb (Ontario) on an article entitled "Optimization and validation of enhanced biological reduction of 1,2,3-trichloropropane in groundwater" that was published in Remediation Journal on pages 17–25, Volume 28, Issue 1, Winter 2017.
Melissa Asher is a Senior Principal Environmental Engineer based in Washington State with more than 15 years of professional experience focused on contaminated site assessment, remediation, environmental due diligence, and regulatory compliance.
Geosyntec is pleased to announce the promotion of Andrea Braga, Brandon Mogan, Christopher Gale, Douglas Baumwirt, Janet Goodfellow, Jennifer Nyman, Jeremy Morris, John Persico, Len deVlaming, Matthew Wissler, Melissa Schmitt, Tamara Hebeler, Thomas Bristol, and Victor Damasceno to Principals within the Geosyntec Family of Companies.
Working with public- and private-sector clients, Geosyntec provides award-winning redevelopment strategies for brownfield sites worldwide. From site identification, investigation, and remediation to design, permitting, and construction management, we provide the services necessary to redevelop an environmentally impacted property to an end use that meets environmental stewardship, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder needs. We employ appropriate and efficient geotechnical engineering and environmental remediation services to solve our clients’ brownfield redevelopment challenges. Geosyntec approaches each brownfield site individually by tailoring investigations, risk assessments, and remediation approaches to the client’s planned end use. We work with regulators, developers, and insurance providers to realize the full economic and social value of their sites and develop solutions that are amenable to all parties. We provide stakeholders with start-to-finish consistency and reassurance that the environmental elements of development are being managed by one firm because of our expertise in regulations, risk assessment, groundwater and soil remediation, soil vapor mitigation, geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, and solid waste and environmental management.
When a site involves volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in soil or groundwater, those chemicals can volatilize and migrate into nearby buildings presenting a health hazard to those inside. Not only that, but most buildings also contain other sources of volatile contaminants that are related to ongoing operations or consumer products. Because the same chemicals can be present in the subsurface, in chemicals used on-site, and in other products, investigation and mitigation can become complicated.
Geosyntec’s expertise in efficient site characterization, including sites that exhibit complex groundwater-flow regimes, has distinguished our firm as a leader in groundwater assessment and groundwater remediation. Our practitioners address a broad suite of contaminants, including metals, chlorinated organic chemicals, petroleum hydrocarbons, and emerging contaminants, and use award-winning, technology-based remediation strategies that are often first-to-field. Many of our hydrogeologists specialize in modeling the fate and transport of contaminants through the most difficult types of media, including fractured and karst bedrock.
Our clients understand environmental and occupational safety and health risk management is a vital component of maintaining overall operational excellence. Geosyntec's environmental management team builds compliance solutions, distinguishes between potential and actual environmental risks, and develops strategies to decrease energy and water utilization. Environmental and health & safety (EH&S) management system support services benefit our private and public sector clients who are committed to achieving high standards of EH&S performance and compliance. We develop documented management systems that allow our clients to identify, prioritize, and manage more efficiently the potential EH&S risks associated with their operations using a plan, do, check, act framework to ensure continuous program improvement. With a diverse portfolio of services, Geosyntec improves public and private sector clients' environmental and health and safety performance; manage risk; and reduce environmental liabilities consistent with their financial and stewardship goals. Our compliance, permitting, and auditing specialists have technical expertise across a broad range of disciplines. Accordingly, we are able to help our clients by proactively identifying compliance obligations and opportunities to improve their compliance record. Geosyntec practitioners specialize in solving complex challenges of occupational safety and industrial hygiene that affect workplace operations, staff comfort and productivity, or occupant health. Addressing such challenges involves the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of known risks and emerging hazards in the workplace. Our practitioners conduct assessments using the sound scientific principles and practices of industrial hygiene, public health, and toxicology. We provide comprehensive Process Safety Management (PSM) and Risk Management Program (RMP) services to meet our clients' needs as they relate to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 29 CFR 1910.119 PSM Standard and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 40 CFR Part 68 RMP. The standards require the development and implementation of a system of procedures aimed at preventing accidental releases of hazardous chemicals from subject processes. All levels of an organization can benefit from our assistance in managing the daily aspects of its operations through development of environmental management systems, compliance programs and procedures, and regulatory research and applicability assessments. We accomplish this by implementing tools in a plan-do-check-act framework to ensure continuous program improvement.
Developing an accurate conceptual site model (CSM) is paramount to understanding and interpreting contaminant fate and transport in the subsurface. One of the main reasons that site remediation fails or produces less than optimal outcomes is a reliance on an overly simplified CSM.
Geosyntec provides practical solutions and a clear vision for environmental remediation that exceed client expectations and help them earn regulatory approval of the solutions they deploy. Dynamic environmental laws and standards and evolving remediation guidance demand proactive cleanup solutions and a clear strategy for addressing regulatory requirements in order for businesses to minimize environmental risk while maintaining economic benefit. Environmental remediation projects are often complex and multi-faceted. This means reaching regulatory closure is not necessarily just about reducing contaminant concentrations below a defined threshold. A range of stakeholders usually need to be satisfied that efforts have been genuinely spent in an attempt to result in better outcomes. A successful remediation project often requires stakeholders agree and own some of the key performance indicators; understand key milestones and their implications; and gain insight on the uncertainties and contingencies to address these. Geosyntec has acquired considerable experience in regulatory advocacy and stakeholder engagement in a range of jurisdictions across the globe. Our practitioners convey complex remediation strategies in a manner that these can gain support from a range of stakeholders. We work closely with clients to develop risk-based closure strategy and criteria, advise on site closure and reuse options, and negotiate closure criteria with key regulators Stakeholder comments are addressed to achieve consensus and approval from multiple regulatory agencies. Our environmental compliance services include helping clients obtain permits through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program and determining the regulatory compliance of a waste storage facility under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). For example, for a sediment remediation project Geosyntec worked hand-in-hand with our client, the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great lakes, and Energy on a cost share partnership throughout the investigation and remedial design process. Through this interaction we were able to identify and design a project that not only met federal and state requirements but could be implemented within the client’s available funding. Geosyntec practitioners help negotiate cleanup goals with regulatory agencies during strategy development and, of course, steer clients through the implementation of long-term remediation plans with their goals as our foremost focus.
Geosyntec provides treatability testing services to support a wide variety of environmental remediation projects around the world. The results of our studies and pilot tests provide important, actionable data about environmental challenges presented by contaminated soil, sediment, groundwater, surface water, and waste. Armed with accurate data on the impacts facing a given study area, our design engineers and our clients are better able to understand the physical, chemical, and biological processes present at a site that can help mitigate potential risks associated with contaminants in various media. The performance data produced by our treatability studies and pilot tests also allow Geosyntec to assess the applicability of specific remediation technologies or solutions under a variety of conditions present in a particular study area. The results of our studies are critical for understanding and demonstrating, for example, an attenuation process that can occur in sediment if natural conditions are maintained at the site. The data may also demonstrate the potential results if cap material is placed on top of impacted sediment, or they may help us understand the potential benefits of adding enhancements to either the existing sediment or cap material. Treatability and pilot studies conducted by Geosyntec's engineers and scientists begin by determining the data quality objectives of an investigation and the most appropriate sources of the data. We then complete a thorough work plan for the study area that includes sampling and analysis plans for collecting the data and interpreting its results. This systematic approach to sample collection and analysis ensures we gather the most valuable, site-specific data necessary — data that, ultimately, aids in the screening, selection, and implementation of remediation technology or solutions for impacted sites regulated under local, state, and national criteria. Well-documented treatability studies are an important component of the contaminant removal process, for remedial investigation/feasibility studies, and the remedial design/remedial action process required under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Our treatability studies and pilot tests also provide the detailed design, cost, and performance data needed to optimize treatment processes and to implement full-scale treatment systems. Additionally, Geosyntec's in-house laboratories provide physical and chemical testing that effectively monitors the performance of treatment processes, technologies, and systems. We also produce field application quantities of naturally occurring consortia of microorganisms that target specific recalcitrant compounds. Using genetic testing we can demonstrate the efficacy of these consortia in achieving containment reduction targets. Our technical evaluation facilities regularly conduct chemical oxidation and bioreactor tests; examine the presence of organics and inorganics in wastewater; evaluate the effectiveness of remediation products; simulate the performance of conceptual designs; and analyze the likely behavior and end point of various treatment processes. All of our lab teams communicate regularly to share knowledge and direct internal and external client projects to the most appropriate technology solutions.
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