As many businesses are preparing to reopen, Natalie Kvochak, an EHS & Air Specialist II with NV5, shares some insights to help keep employees safe from COVID-19.

NV5, Inc. welcomes Bryan Stone, PE as Vice President of the Site Assessment and Remediation team. He has over 30 years of experience as a consulting engineer, construction manager, program manager and operations manager involved with soil and groundwater site remediation at contaminated industrial properties. His experience includes remedial design/remedial action, pre-construction planning, contractor procurement, and construction management at current and former industrial properties and Brownfields sites across the United States.

Stone received his Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He holds professional engineering licenses in California and Washington.

“We are excited to have Bryan Stone lead the site assessment and remediation group,” Lisa Kay, Environmental Health Sciences Chief Operating Officer for NV5 said. “His leadership will help to augment and expand our team’s deep experience with site assessment and remedial design and implementation.”

In Southern California, United States (US), a post-fire monitoring study helps stormwater managers develop strategies to prevent downstream water contamination. Rebekah Guill of the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District and Garth Engelhorn of Alta Environmental, an NV5 Company, explain how post-fire stormwater runoff affects water quality, based on scientific data.

In August 2018, the “Holy Fire” caused devastating damage to approximately 23,000 acres of the Cleveland National Forest in Southern California. The high-to-moderate burn severity of the fire led to a loss of vegetation, created hydrophobic soils, changed the soil erosiveness of the steep forested lands, and created a risk of mass wasting (e.g., slope movement or mass movement of soil and rock).

By Matthew Renaud from Storm Water Solutions

Storm water regulations relating to construction sites vary across the country. Whether the project exists in a state with its own National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) delegated authority or covered by the U.S. EPA’s Construction General Permit (CGP), the project may be required to sample a site’s storm water and non-storm water discharges. The focus here pertains to the California (CA) CGP’s requirements and will be the basis of this article’s permitting authority. The CA CGP requires Risk Level 2 and 3 Traditional (Linear Utility Projects have their own specific requirements) to sample and report storm water discharges from their site that originate from qualifying storm events (QSE) that are 0.5 inches or greater. Collecting discharge samples that are representative of the actual water quality is where the art and science of storm water sampling comes in to play.

By Matthew Renaud

February was ending, that once every four-year event, Leap Day was upon us. Like so many, we were planning our schedules for March, ensuring that we had the appropriate staffing in place for the upcoming rain events, reporting requirements, and other routine tasks that come through the door for our clients. Then, March came in like a lion, but not a winter storm, no, this was a storm of a different kind. When the real news of the effects that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was becoming known and the seriousness of it was finally being accepted by the multiple levels of government, our collective worlds changed seemingly overnight. What can we all do for the collective good our family, friends, neighbors, and strangers alike? Stay home, stay away, and then what about work? Am I essential? It’s human nature to feel like we should be classified as “essential.” Fortunately, some levels of the government have answered this question for us. From the environmental protection/compliance side, the Regional Water Quality Control Board for San Diego was the first to answer this question for me and what I dedicate my career to. A few days later, on March 20, 2020, the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) issued a release that clarified for all state permittees that the protection of our State’s water and environmental resources are an essential component of our collective good and that compliance matters are essential to be complied with throughout this crisis.

Industrial Permit Annual Reporting Season is Right Around the Corner…What is your Facility’s Status?

By your Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors at NV5 David Renfrew, QISP/ToR, QSD/P, CPSWQ, PMP

This may seem odd, but when I think of the Industrial General Stormwater Permit (IGP) and Compliance in the time of COVID-19, I reflect on Gabriel García Márquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera.” Marquez states that “wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.” This makes me think about those IGP sites where the Legally Responsible Person (LRP) or Duly Authorized Representative (DAR) asks questions such as…“Why didn’t we address these best management practices (BMPs) sooner?” or “If we knew our annual sample results were high in April, why did we wait until November to start implementing additional BMPs?” or worse…“Why are we in ERA level 2 and why are we getting Notices of Violation (NOV) letters from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) about our missing reports?”

In October 2014 Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1826, requiring businesses to recycle their organic waste (AKA Organics) on and after April 1, 2016, depending on the amount of waste they generate per week. This law also requires that on and after January 1, 2016, local jurisdictions across California implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste generated by businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings that consist of five or more units.  This Bill defines Organic Waste as food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste. AB 1826 requires jurisdictions to provide information about their organic waste recycling program implementation in the annual report submitted to CalRecycle.