Meet Major Carlos Restrepo, whose work exemplifies commitment and teamwork. Major Restrepo is a Project Manager in our Tampa, Florida office and the Detachment Officer-in-Charge of the Army’s 604th Forward Engineer Support Team – Advance (FEST-A). His team was deployed to Kuwait to support Operation Enduring Freedom (Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve).
While deployed, Carlos managed a multidisciplinary team of professional and technical engineers in a high-paced contingency environment. He managed all aspects of command with special emphasis on engineering support capabilities. His responsibilities included project management, base camp and site development planning, engineer design, cost estimates, and required facility, infrastructure, and environmental assessments at bases and camps throughout Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
Carlos’s team completed more than 50 missions with a project value of more than $15 million. Under his guidance and leadership, his team performed complex multidisciplinary engineer assessments and designs at all assigned locations. His ability to anticipate problems, provide sound recommendations, and collaborate with external organizations fostered positive relationships and extended the influence of FEST-A capabilities across the theater, which was critical to enhancing the Theater Engineer Brigade’s ability to deliver essential engineer solutions.
Despite numerous challenges presented by the ever-changing and dynamic operational environment, Carlos skillfully positioned the right personnel and resources to key locations at the right time to ensure the timely delivery of engineering design solutions to meet the various needs of all supported organizations across the theater without sacrificing quality or cost. His superb organizational management abilities were instrumental in streamlining numerous processes, making project execution more efficient for the supported organizations.
We are grateful to Major Restepro and his mighty team for their work. At SCS, we value the commitment and teamwork it takes to execute essential services. For a rewarding career, consider becoming an employee-owner at SCS Engineers.
Did you miss the 2022 Annual GWPC & UIC Conference in Salt Lake City? We welcome you to view SCS Engineers’ presentation by Kacey Garber entitled “Sensitivity of Aquifer Chemistry to Changes in Carbon Dioxide Partial Pressure: Implications for Design of Groundwater Monitoring Protocols,” where Kacey discusses permitting requirements for groundwater monitoring for carbon sequestration and storage sites.
In her technical presentation, Kacey Garber of SCS Engineers discusses the great care taken in the design and operation of the injection of carbon compounds to ensure that the sequestration is effective and permanent. Each injection site also has permitting requirements for groundwater monitoring in any overlying aquifer as a protective measure. Because the injection and sequestration periods are long, CSS solutions need a cost-effective groundwater monitoring program with a robust sensitivity to detect any leakage. By establishing a groundwater monitoring protocol specific to the site, sensitive to changes in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide, and relatively insensitive to natural variability and hydrochemical facies changes, implementing optimal and cost-effective groundwater protection is possible. Using a case study, Kacey tells us how her team did this in detail.
Kacey Garber is an experienced groundwater project manager for active and closed landfills, including routine groundwater monitoring and statistical analyses; reports and permit applications; designing sampling and analysis plans; special groundwater studies; and conducting groundwater well construction planning and design.
SCS Engineers is providing landfill gas (LFG) systems operations, monitoring, design, and management for the Yolo County Central Landfill (YCCL). SCS Field Services is SCS’s specialized landfill practice, providing operations, maintenance, and monitoring (Landfill OM&M) for Yolo County and over 600 landfills across the nation.
SCS Field Services identifies practical strategies to optimize the performance of landfill gas (LFG) systems and equipment while working on site. Optimized systems capture more gas.
Project Manager Mike Calmes leads the comprehensive team at YCCL, which has five closed waste management units, five active waste management units, and one under construction. Closed landfills continue generating gas, so active or closed, they all require oversight by these landfill specialists.
“The County understands the importance of preventative strategies using captured landfill data to create sustainable environmental controls. These keep landfills running as efficiently as possible and safely within regulatory compliance,” said Anton Z. Svorinich Jr., SCS Engineers Vice President, Regional OM&M Manager.
To learn more about landfill operations and engineering, visit SCS Engineers.
SCS Field Services announces that the Las Vegas Paving Corporation selected the firm to subcontract the construction of the environmental remediation systems for the Apex Regional Landfill MA20 Cell expansion. SCS Field Services is the landfill operations, monitoring, and maintenance (OM&M) practice of SCS Engineers.
Apex is the nation’s largest landfill, receiving approximately 9,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily. The 2,200-acre facility could operate for another 250+ years through 2275. All Landfill systems are complex and require careful and regular monitoring by specialists and technicians to maintain their longevity and efficiency. SCS Field Services provides specialists at over 600 landfills in the nation. Working collaboratively, SCS Engineers provides expertise in developing the environmental-safety mechanisms and technologies required to protect the surrounding communities.
A key component of SCS’s environmental management plan for Apex focuses on the leachate collection and recovery systems that help prevent leachate buildup in the new cell until the permanent systems are online. Leachate is a tainted liquid generated as precipitation filters through decomposing waste material. Leachate collection and recovery with liner systems prevent the liquid from escaping from a landfill. The systems protect groundwater, surface waters, and soil from potentially polluting the environment. The Las Vegas Apex Regional Landfill OM&M team will use SCS Leachate™ to facilitate the tracking of leachate generation and disposal data.
“We’re proud to have the opportunity to support the Apex Regional Landfill, which provides the region with safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible disposal while providing power and contributing to Nevada’s renewable energy goals,” states SCS Field Services Desert Southwest Region Manager Arthur Jones. Mr. Jones and Project Manager Chris Romo lead SCS’s Apex OM&M team.
Dr. Ketan Shah of SCS Engineers will present his paper and findings at the Air and Waste Management Association, 115th ACE-22 conference from June 27-30 in San Francisco, California. Methane generation, recovery, and emissions projections for biodegradable polyester fiber used to create clothing products are growing. This clothing will eventually be disposed of in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in the U.S. The scope of work described in this research project includes providing the methane estimates that discuss the data, assumptions, and calculation methods used to develop the estimates.
Scrap facilities’ stormwater permits incorporate strict sampling requirements, numeric limits (generally referred to as benchmarks, numeric action levels, or numeric effluent limits), and mandated corrective actions. Furthermore, facilities face emerging challenges with increased regulatory scrutiny within environmental justice communities and communities implementing new stormwater utilities. Good planning can ease the operational, maintenance, and reporting requirements and provide positive results for your facility’s relationship with local communities and regulators.
If your facility is facing scrutiny or requires additional best management practices (BMPs) to meet stormwater permit requirements, follow this simple stepped approach:
Good planning and design create effective conveyance and treatment systems that improve stormwater quality and help you meet benchmark requirements. Proactive measures to plan for stormwater treatment systems will help existing scrap metal recycling facilities address corrective action and avoid Additional Implementation Measure (AIM) levels based on their benchmark monitoring results.
Need assistance with managing stormwater runoff at your scrap facility? Contact our Author, Scott Knoepke, to set up a meeting at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ 2022 Safety and Environmental Conference. Or reach out anytime; SCS’s environmental professionals are nationwide.
The construction cranes dotting suburban and urban areas indicate many cities’ new residential, office, and commercial building developments. Mixed-use development continues rising in popularity; the pandemic accelerated a swing already in motion. But there are other factors at play here, and one may surprise you. Today, our blog discusses these two factors and how brownfield redevelopment can play a role in addressing both.
One: Sustainability
According to Architecture 2030, a non-profit, non-partisan organization established to transform the building sector away from being a major emitter of greenhouse gases, there is work to do. As with almost all industry segments, tracking and reducing their carbon footprint is considered an essential element of doing business. It’s important to Americans and shareholders.
Brownfield redevelopment presents adaptive reuse of existing buildings and properties and is a sustainable form of construction. Completing the due diligence and environmental studies associated with redevelopment shows brownfields can provide cost benefits from a development perspective and in excellent locations with existing infrastructure. The conversion of existing land or buildings, as opposed to new-build construction, is far more environmentally sustainable.
An EPA 2020 study examines and reports the environmental benefits that continue accruing when brownfield sites are redevelopment. The study finds that accomodating housing and job growth decreases the need for more roads and reduces emissions from commuting.
As population density increases, real estate prices continue to rise, and less land is available, mixed-use development is an economical choice for developers. It is also one of the best-case scenarios for end-users because it prioritizes practicality and sustainability. Many potential sites exist in desirable locations or emerging areas. They should be available below market value and may have been on the market for a long time. The development of Comm-22 is a great example of a mixed-use community. Businesses find brownfields attractive options because they are closer to their customers – good for business and the environment.
Two: Grant Programs and Offsetting Expenses
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has grant programs that can pay for the assessment and cleanup of brownfields, but these programs are only available to governmental and non-profit organizations. However, a private entity may be able to team with these eligible parties. The bipartisan Congressional action has delivered the single-largest investment in U.S. brownfields infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $1.5 billion through EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program.
In addition, grants are available from some state agencies and the private sector through EPA regional programs – these are most often found within the transportation sector. Your environmental engineer or consultant can help you find funding; the firms with comprehensive environmental services keep watch as substantial federal infrastructure funding trickles down to the states in 2022 and next year. Note that each grant program will have its eligibility criteria, but many of these are designated for mixed-use developments supporting
Obtaining a grant or loan with the help of a qualified environmental consultant or an environmental attorney can be the difference in acquiring, cleaning up, and redeveloping a property. The grants don’t typically cover all the costs associated with the necessary cleanups, but they can cover most of these costs.
A new property owner can obtain an environmental insurance policy to cover cleanup requirements, third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage, and associated legal expenses resulting from pollution or contamination. These insurance policies are available with various term lengths and deductible amounts to satisfy the concerns of lenders or equity investors.
Other solutions include “insurance archaeology” to find old insurance policies that may have coverage for “pollution conditions.”
Comprehensive Environmental Support Keeps Redevelopment on Track
Mixed-use development provides a healthy, safe place to work, play, and live along with job creation. The most important risk management strategy is to keep the project on schedule. Your environmental engineer and consultant have a thorough understanding of the environmental issues on the site and how those issues can impact your redevelopment plans and bottom line. It is critical to have environmental and legal support experienced in identifying, anticipating, and managing risks on brownfields.
SCS evaluates brownfields by performing a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) first to study historic site information and previous uses. SCS will perform a Phase II study if the Phase I ESA identifies potential issues (known as Recognized Environmental Conditions). Phase II includes collecting and analyzing samples (i.e., soil, soil vapor, and groundwater) to assess whether environmental impacts are present. If enough sampling is completed, the extent of the impacts can be estimated.
SCS Engineers has a long and successful track record with brownfields projects. Our clients appreciate the security of having comprehensive and experienced professionals who lower their risk keeping projects on schedule, safely remediating in-situ that lowers greenhouse gas emissions and can provide cost savings.
With proper planning and the help of a qualified environmental consultant, the mitigation or remediation of impacts can be incorporated into the acquisition and development processes and result in a vibrant, profitable project that is protective of human health and the environment.
About the Author: Luke Montague is a Vice President of SCS Engineers and a Project Director. He is a Professional Geologist and licensed contractor with two decades of experience in environmental consulting, general contracting, commercial and residential development, and property and asset management. He has performed and reviewed hundreds of Phase I environmental site assessments (ESAs), and has completed subsurface investigations, human health risk assessments, removal action work plans, site remediation activities, geotechnical investigations, asbestos and lead-based paint surveys, and asbestos air monitoring.
SCS Engineers announces the environmental engineering firm will construct the first Gas Collection and Control System (GCCS) and flare station at the WM® (formerly Waste Management®) Gray Wolf Regional Landfill. The facility is located in Dewey, Arizona, and provides disposal services for Yavapai County and Northern Arizona.
The GCCS serves as a critical component to keep Gray Wolf compliant with federal emissions standards. The system collects gases that are a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material in landfills and directs them to a central point where they are processed and treated via flare.
SCS Engineers is a national leader in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat global warming. For example, methane — one of the gases a landfill produces — is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of its greenhouse effect. Destroying methane using combustion, such as flaring, can diminish its GHG potential by 95 percent.
Since their introduction in the early 1990s, U.S. EPA National Source Performance Standards (NSPS) emission guidelines require landfill owners and operators to evaluate and mitigate landfill air emissions. As a result of its intensive involvement in regulatory compliance, its decades of expertise, and landfill technologies, SCS is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities on the landfill NSPS rule and its efficient implementation.
“We’re proud to back WM at the Gray Wolf Regional Landfill in their support of community programs and essential services that make Yavapai County and its surrounding region a healthy place to live, work, and play,” states Arthur Jones. Desert Southwest Region Manager Arthur Jones and Project Manager Chris Romo lead the Gray Wolf GCCS construction project.
Suzanne Sturgeon is the Health and Safety (H&S) Program Manager for SCS Engineers staff working in the field. Suzanne is responsible for developing and implementing safety programs, policies, procedures, and regulations. She also manages H&S training for field staff, developing and conducting cultural-based training within SCS to promote understanding and participation while encouraging a behavior-based philosophy essential to eliminating unsafe practices and conditions.
Suzanne doesn’t stop there; she continually evolves her programs and participates in association speaking opportunities to share successful strategies throughout North America at Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) events and others. Her focus has been proactively identifying hazardous landfill and landfill gas situations and presenting unique and successful solutions she has developed for SCS. But, as the number of MRFs and Transfer Stations is expected to increase, those areas have become safety focus areas.
The industry is seeing a reduction in workplace fatalities based on the most recent U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, but there is more work to do. “Solid waste is a dangerous industry, and we collectively work to bring awareness to those most vulnerable to injury or worse,” said Sturgeon. “As an industry, we have the tools and more on-demand training to help reach more workers before problems occur to continue making our industry safer.”
As the SWANA National Safety Committee Chair, Suzanne is working hard and smart in the field, keeping up with new systems, equipment, and facilities that need her particular skills and insight to keep worker fatalities and injuries on the downward trend. Her innovative training and ability to communicate with so many saves lives.
Greg McCarron, PE, is a Vice President of SCS Engineers and the firm’s expert on Organics Management. Greg supports businesses and municipalities across the U.S. taking steps to address climate change, which many consider the most important challenge facing our planet. One popular option is reducing greenhouse gas and their environmental impacts by diverting organics from landfills, thus reducing methane production. The tactic also diverts much-needed food to food banks in some programs, but all programs produce a product good for the earth.
Greg’s 35 years of experience include operations, project management, design, permitting, regulatory support, construction oversight, system start-up, economic analysis, and technology assessment to find the right system and the proper mix for sustainable composting operations.
Among his successful innovative projects, there are award winners for demonstrating composting operations can be in urban areas, conveniently coexisting with buildings and people, even tucked under a bridge in New York City.
He created an Aerated Static Pile (ASP) composting pilot program so that municipalities and businesses could evaluate their organic waste streams to determine whether composting is a viable solution before making a capital investment.
And he is leading the design of hybrid composting approaches that combine an ASP system with other technologies, such as open windrows. These hybrid systems can achieve necessary process control while maintaining cost efficiencies. The designs depend on the priority challenges unique to each project — processing increasing tons of food scraps, for example, but change as priorities differ within programs. Sustainability means the systems are flexible enough to adapt to waste trends and the end market, which demands various high-quality mixes to sell.
Greg says, “the advancements mentioned above help support sustainable composting and organics management because they account for changes that may occur over the life of the systems, such as waste characteristics and their relation to the end-product demand.”
Regulatory movement around PFAS is picking up; this year and next could be monumental around managing these toxic compounds in landfills and leachate. Operators should look out for proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules in 2022 and final rules in 2023. Most notably, two PFAS categories, PFOA and PFOS, could be classified as hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), aka Superfund. Also, expect rules on monitoring and limiting PFAS in drinking water.
Amidst this regulatory activity, PFAS treatment research advances, which will be critical to landfill operators when they are charged with managing this very challenging stream. With existing options, it’s near impossible to destroy these “forever chemicals,” known for their carbon-fluorine bond, considered one of the strongest in nature.
SCS Engineers’ Gomathy Radhakrishna Iyer advises operators on what to look for to brace for regulatory change and advises them on their best defense—the treatment piece. She explains current options and potential technology breakthroughs on the horizon.
“On the legislative front, standardized guidance might not happen overnight. There’s much to learn, as leachate is not the same, including as it pertains to PFAS. Concentrations and compounds vary. So, EPA is gathering data and knowledge to inform policy and mitigation options moving forward,” Iyer says.
Today’s focus entails developing and validating methods to detect and measure PFAS in the environment. The EPA is evaluating technologies to reduce it and is trying to understand better the fate and transport of PFAS in landfills (including landfill gas, leachate, and waste).
While PFAS concentrations in leachate sent to publicly owned treatment plants (POTW) are unknown, the EPA 2023 rule aims to fill in the missing pieces. What is learned and subsequent decisions will be critical to landfill operators who depend on POTWs as a final destination for leachate and at a time when POTWs meet stringent guidelines on what they can accept. The EPA’s focus will begin with guidance on monitoring and reporting figures, including a list of PFAS to watch for in 2022.
In the meantime, the agency published interim guidance on destroying and disposing of PFAS, which it plans to update in fall 2023. The interim guidance identifies the information gap with regard to PFAS testing and monitoring, reiterating the need for further research to address the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act NDAA requirements. Operators can also look to SWANA treatment guidelines to help prepare for new rules.
Get ahead of the game by doing your homework on treatments, Iyer advises. POTWs have discharge limits, and once PFAS in leachate is weighed in with the existing constituent limits on permits, ensuring a disposal destination will call for proactive measures.
The discussion on treatments will be important. Iyer advises on staying up with expectations that may be in the pipeline, beginning by focusing on today’s commercially available options:
Comparing these methods, Iyer says, “Biological treatments work better simply as a pretreatment method, removing PFAS to some extent. Their performance may also only apply to non-biodegradable organic matter. Considering these limitations, the alternative of physical-chemical treatments is most often recommended by industry experts; they appear to be more effective as supported by data,” Iyer says.
Her preference is RO, the membrane-enabled separation process, which many treatment plants already use, or are considering, to remediate other constituents. “Because we know RO to be effective with other contaminants and PFAS, I think it’s a great gainer, especially if plants already use this method to treat leachate for other contaminants successfully,” she says.
RO requires relatively little operational expertise, while other physical-chemical methods, such as GAC and ion exchange, require some chemistry knowledge.
“With granular activated carbon and ion exchange, resins attach to contaminants in leachate. These approaches require pretreatment for organics removal, process understanding, and operator involvement. Conversely, with RO, you learn a fairly straightforward process and move through the steps,” she says.
But while physical-chemical treatments are the best readily available options today, each has limitations. RO leaves a residue requiring further treatment; then, the material is typically recirculated in landfills as a slurry or hauled to a POTW, meaning there is no guarantee they will not need to be addressed later. Other methods, such as GAC, are more energy-intensive and have limited sorbent capacity. Ion exchange, in particular, has difficulty removing short-chain PFAS, which persist in the environment.
When the time comes that PFAS have stringent discharge limit requirements, no one of these technologies may work as a standalone, so the search is on for more robust systems.
Several new treatments are under research; unlike their predecessors, they appear to break the chemical bond.
Iyer shares her take on each option:
“I’m especially interested in seeing how plasma treatment works in the real world versus the lab. The building costs can be higher, and leveraging electricity to break the bond is expensive. But the maintenance should be easy and relatively inexpensive compared to other technologies. It will be interesting to see how economical it would be for landfills over the long run.”
There is more to learn about each of these new technologies. Researchers are working to identify the adsorbents that best suit PFAS compound removal, whether short or long chains. With photocatalytic reaction, a research direction is exploring combining UV rays, a catalyst, and an oxidant to degrade PFAS.
“We know that the absorption options and photocatalytic concepts work well on strong contaminants,” Iyer says. She moves on to her thoughts on thermal treatment. She wants to know more about this particular option before weighing in. “I’m not sure how feasible this method will be for the operators. PFAS get destroyed at a temperature greater than 1,000 degrees Celsius. But for high quantities of leachate, this option could be expensive.”
Most EPA-funded research is based on these developing treatment processes. But there is plenty to evaluate to identify the best solutions in a given scenario. With that understanding, the agency is trying to understand the types and volumes of PFAS generated, how they change or degrade as they enter landfills, and where they originate. EPA is building a database to track this information to consider key characteristics of individual PFAS to help guide forthcoming guidance on treatments.
In the meantime, Iyer advises operators to pay close attention to evolving developments and communications from EPA.
We recently saw the memorandum from EPA on addressing PFAS discharges in EPA-issued NPDES permits. We will look for guidance to the state permitting authorities to address PFAS in NPDES permits soon and more information from the EPA’s roadmap.
At SCS, we use our time to learn about technologies, including what’s still under investigation and explore what seems to work. In addition, watch for guidance documents, not just from EPA but from research organizations such as EREF and universities. Do your due diligence and keep your eyes and ears open for EPA and your state regulatory authority announcements. Staying informed is the best strategy for landfill operators at this point.
Liquids and wastewater management resources.
