Travis Kline, MEM, BCES
Travis Kline is a Senior Principal Toxicologist based in Washington, D.C. with more than 25 years of experience focused on human health risk assessment and applied toxicology.
Risk Assessment and Applied Toxicology
Geosyntec's human health and ecological risk assessment services identify the proper approach to remediate sites impacted by a wide variety of contaminants. Our risk assessment specialists work in conjunction with our remediation practitioners to develop site-specific solutions that achieve the needed levels of protection while optimizing financial commitments and operational practicalities for our clients. Our specialists also provide expert consultation and testimony on environmental exposure health issues for our legal clients. Through our technical specialists in biostatistics, epidemiology, information management, and contaminant fate and transport modeling and other specialized practitioners, we provide an exceptional quality of work that has become the envy of the industry.
Brownfield Redevelopment Planning & Design
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.
Groundwater Assessment and Remediation
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.
Fate and Transport and Hydrogeological Characterization
Hydrogeological characterization and fate and transport modeling affects the performance of any remediation technology deployed at a site. To effectively remediate a site and optimize the use of time and resources, contamination must be sufficiently characterized using sound judgment to interpret available data. By delineating and understanding the geology and hydrogeology, our experts design strong conceptual site models, remediate groundwater, and employ beneficial reuse of sediments.
Human Health & Ecological Risk Assessments
Commercial manufacturers, specialty chemical firms, and industry and legal-sector clients often face a complicated mix of constituents at their sites. They need to understand the implications of cumulative exposures across multiple pathways, often for multiple populations. In addition, they may be facing uncertainties associated with emerging constituents, which are often not yet well understood.
Contaminated Media Investigations & Assessments
Geosyntec applies reliable and innovative approaches to contaminated media investigations and assessments. We help clients address a wide array of known and emerging contaminants in soil, sediment, and groundwater. We also conduct site evaluations and discover the sources of air emissions, subsurface vapor intrusion into buildings, and contaminants in surface waters. Our assessment specialists include some of the most respected and sought-after professionals in the environmental remediation industry. They possess the experience and technical skills to conceptualize and implement all aspects of contaminated media assessments and remediation programs. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Geosyntec brings together nationally recognized, in-house specialists in civil and geotechnical engineering, ecology and biological sciences, risk assessment and applied toxicology, and earth sciences to address the complex issues associated with contaminated media. Our contaminated site practitioners guide our clients through specialized remediation plans, consult on regulatory strategies, and develop comprehensive cleanup approaches. We address numerous types of media, including contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater. Contaminated Media Services
Solid Waste Recycling Facilities
Geosyntec engineers and scientists offer decades of experience in the design, construction, and long-term maintenance of waste containment and processing facilities, including central operations where commingled or source-separated recyclables are processed mechanically or manually to meet market specifications for sale. We consult with solid waste planners and engineers as they establish technical specifications, conduct material analysis, and seek to improve manual and mechanical materials separation and recovery approaches at their recycling facilities handling thousands of tons of waste each day throughout the world. Geosyntec engineers provide advanced designs for new and established facilities as well as technical services for waste characterization, mass balance, and technology selection, including recommendations for fixed and rolling equipment to enhance operations. We also analyze human factors related to waste recovery and separating and consult on best management practices for raw material and product storage. In just one example, Geosyntec aided the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, Florida in the innovative installation of a disc screen system for commercial fiber. County officials sought to increase the overall efficiency of their existing recycling facility and, if possible, to mechanize the operation while increasing the quality of the finished product, thereby improving its marketability and revenue potential. Geosyntec met or exceeded each of these goals. Efficiency increased from approximately nine tons of product recovered each hour to an average rate of about 17 tons per hour, ramping up to as much as 20 tons per hour when needed. The amount of manual labor used in the processing operation was also substantially reduced, and the overall quality and marketability of the finished products were improved using a combination of a pre-sort station, the disc screen, and an improved ability to perform quality control inspections.
Radiological Waste Management and Disposal Facilities
Geosyntec's practitioners work with regulators and stakeholders to develop solutions for a range of radiological challenges, including waste management and disposal, waste packaging and transportation, facility decontamination and decommissioning (D&D), and environmental restoration for government and private clients. Our established credibility with regulators contributes to securing the approvals needed to move demanding projects forward in a timely manner. Engineering and designing containment facilities for the safe, long-term disposal of radiological and mixed (radiological and hazardous) wastes challenges the norms in terms of technology demonstration, design life, and material performance. The extremely long half-lives of many radionuclides present in these wastes mean that the radiological characteristics of these materials will be persistent over long periods of time. This requires that they be disposed and managed in a controlled manner as a disposal facility ages. The levels of radioactivity within the waste disposed of in a facility also need to be considered during the long-term evaluations, or performance assessments. Geosyntec has conducted performance assessments under several different regulatory settings to demonstrate that the disposal facilities are protective of human health and the environment, assessing both internal risks as the waste decays within the disposal facility and external to disposal facilities as the performance of the landfill construction materials age and are modeled at very long times (e.g., hundreds to thousands of years) to eventually transmit leachate and contaminants to the underlying geology. The results of the performance assessments are crucial towards our clients understanding of their design choices and future liabilities. When the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) decided to decommission its nuclear weapons complex facilities at Fernald, Ohio, they relied on our expertise to design and provide construction quality assurance services for the low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities built to contain impacted soils and demolition debris. Geosyntec met aggressive DOE schedule requirements and delivered award-winning, state-of-the-art facilities with a design life of at least 200 years using currently available technology. In doing so, we helped DOE and its contractor teams complete site closure years ahead of their original schedules, and billions below the original estimate. When DOE decided to decommission its nuclear weapons complex facility at Portsmouth, Ohio, Geosyntec was again tapped to provide design and permitting for the on-site waste disposal facility. Geosyntec has also successfully assisted clients in the related practice area of management and containment of by-products and wastes that contain naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) associated with ore processing residuals. For example, a multinational company owned a processing facility with NORM and Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM) containing uranium and thorium impacts to buildings, equipment, and process area soils. Geosyntec assessed and characterized site conditions, then designed a secure, on-site disposal facility, dismantled ore processing equipment, and impacted soils. Our design addressed the liner and cover containment systems; sequencing for constructing, filling, and closing the facility; facility operation and maintenance; and post-closure environmental monitoring. The requirement to consider a performance over a period of more than 10,000 years led to significant challenges in design and modeling of the disposal facility. As the general contractor for the project, we implemented a stringent construction and radiological safety program. This included establishing and operating an on-site radiological laboratory capable of measuring gross alpha/beta activity and gamma spectroscopy on debris, impacted soils, airborne particulates, and water. When complete, over 11,000 loads of excavated soils and plant debris (or 75,000 cubic meters) were transported and disposed of in the facility and more than 87,000 drums were retrieved, processed, transported and disposed. The project was completed with more than 1 million man-hours without either a lost-time accident or a radiological incident, a testament to the importance of safety and the safety culture that Geosyntec has established.
Watershed & Water Quality Studies and Modeling
To help clients achieve stringent water quality goals, Geosyntec provides rigorous assessment and modeling services to assess the sources and factors that affect the delivery of critical pollutants across watersheds. Through our comprehensive studies and analyses, we provide technically defensible tools and approaches that can be used in the development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) calculations and watershed protection plans. In addition, we frequently turn to Use Attainability Analyses to examine site-specific water quality criteria that affect attainability goals under natural, human-caused, and economic conditions. Our hydrodynamic and water-quality models integrate inputs from point and nonpoint sources to support our engineers and scientists as they study impacts on water quality in receiving water. These models allow us to understand the assimilative capacities of a given body of water, propose best management practices that can affect pollutant impacts, and predict the time required for a system to recover after being altered. Using watershed studies, water quality monitoring, and hydrological and hydrodynamic modeling, we also can assess compliance with local, state, and federal water quality standards. Using all this information, we are better able to evaluate the magnitude, frequency, and duration of impacts of a wide variety of pollutant sources. Our practitioners offer extensive experience with geographic information system applications for spatial analysis, planimetric and thematic mapping, and data representation. We employ watershed models including the Watershed Characterization System (WCS), Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS), and the Watershed Assessment Model (WAMView). We also employ the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP), the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC), and the Stream Water Quality Model (QUAL2K) for hydrodynamic and water-quality models. Our practitioners are at the forefront of policy analyses, regulatory compliance, and technology applications that promote sustainable water resources management and ecosystem restoration. We have extensive experience helping local governments develop and negotiate long-term control plans for combined sewer overflows, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and consent orders. We also comment on Clean Water Act issues at the state and national level, including the development of new recreational use criteria for water bodies across the county and for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new framework for integrated planning for wastewater and stormwater.
