 By your Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors at Alta Environmental|NV5 David Renfrew, Vice President, Water Resources Director 01/24/2020
California businesses and municipalities need to be aware of Senate Bill 205 (Hertzberg). The bill was signed into law on October 2, 2019. The bill requires businesses applying for or renewing their businesses licenses to provide their Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC), and if required, show proof of enrollment in California’s Industrial General Stormwater Permit (IGP)¹. The purpose of the bill is to capture many of the non-filer businesses who are currently operating without IGP coverage, which is a violation of the Clean Water Act, and is also an unfair business practice. On Saturday January 25th, Chris Waller of Alta|NV5 will be participating in a panel discussion on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, at the Southwestern Chapter of American Associate of Airport Executives’ Airport Attorney Workshop in Monterey, CA. Mr. Waller will be joined on the panel by Sarah Johnson of California Strategies, LLC and Lori Ballance of Gatzke, Dillon & Balance, LLP. The discussion will provide background on PFAS, how PFAS are released into the environment, recent regulatory developments regarding PFAS, and special considerations for airports and other facilities that may be required to investigate for the existence of PFAS. Although the presentation is geared towards airports, PFAS is an emerging chemical of concern for a large range of industries, municipalities, and drinking water providers.  The Alta Elves were hard at work making holiday care packages to help bring joy this holiday season. The Water Resources team in our Oceanside office packed 75 stockings filled with goodies for members of our U.S. military. We coordinated with the non-profit group Soldiers’ Angels to distribute these care packages to members of the military on domestic bases as well as some that are currently deployed abroad. The stockings had games, candies, snacks, socks, beanies, gloves, and much more! As we packed the stockings, it was a great opportunity to reflect upon the dedication of our service men and women and the hard-earned freedom that we enjoy each day. Alta would like to say a heartfelt thank-you this holiday season to all members of our military and to the families of these service men and women. Thank you for your sacrifices.
 Current Cal/OSHA regulations, CCR T8 §342(a), require that “every employer shall report immediately by telephone or telegraph to the nearest District Office of the Division of Occupational Safety & Health any serious injury or illness, or death of an employee occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment. Immediate means as soon as practically possible but not longer than 8 hours after the employer knows or with diligent inquiry would have known of the serious injury or illness. If the employer can demonstrate that exigent circumstances exist, the time frame for the report may be made no longer than 24 hours after the incident.”
Alta|NV5’s Lisa Kay was part of the Future World Vision Leadership Summit, an invitation only full-day event immediately preceding the ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure in November 2019. The Summit brought together business, industry, and government leadership from across the world to develop proposed actionable solutions toward improving infrastructure resilience to meet the future world’s needs. This summit resulted in commitments from attendee organizations and ASCE to take proactive steps toward ensuring more resilience in our work and increased industry standards. NV5 has made a proactive commitment to infrastructure resilience as active thought leaders contributing to infrastructure sustainability. NV5 is a charter member of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure and a member of the Zofnas Sustainable Infrastructure Board at Harvard where NV5 is well represented by Linda Reardon and Kathy Collins.
 By Bridgette Reddington from Stormwater Magazine
What you need to know before sampling for PFAS For the past several years, programs and research studying Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have rapidly increased across the country. Although PFAS have been in use since the 1940s, public awareness of the environmental and health risks posed by PFAS began at the turn of the century. This increased public concern led to a voluntary phase out of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in all US manufacturing processes. However, PFOA is still used in manufacturing processes world-wide and is used to manufacture products imported into the US. Also, PFOA is only one type of PFAS chemical and there are many more PFAS chemicals in use. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a stewardship program in 2006 to monitor these chemicals and to investigate their potential dangers. Research will continue over the coming years, and new articles are posted weekly about the topic. Staying aware of the latest information about PFAS will help when the time for new regulation measures comes to pass.  By: David Renfrew, Vice President, Water Resources Director at Alta Environmental|NV5
On October 25, 2019, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued Investigative Order WQ 2019-0045-DWQ (Order). This was the second phase rollout of the SWRCB’s three phased investigation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) listed in SWRCB Resolution No. 92-49. The SWRCB already directed PFAS testing at 30 airports and 196 landfills, and intends to target other potential PFAS sources in the state to do the same. This second phase roll out listed chrome plating facilities in California that have stored and/or used fume suppressants or other substances that may contain PFAS and are required to submit information to the appropriate Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).  Roxanne recently joined Alta|NV5 as a Staff Geologist. She brings more than seven years of professional experience in geology, GIS, site assessments and remediation to the team. Roxanne received he Bachelor of Science in Geology from California State University Long Beach. She holds a variety of certifications and training certificates, including OSHA 40HR HAZWOPER, First Aid/CPR, APNGA Portable Nuclear Gauge Safety and USDOT Hazmat. She is fluent in both Spanish and English. Roxanne is currently working toward her Geologist-in-Training (GIT).
EISB: Innovative In-situ Technology for Treatment of Chlorinated Solvent Compounds in Groundwater11/15/2019
By Steve Ridenour, PG, from Civil + Structural Engineer on Enhanced In-Situ Bioremediation (EISB) technology Elevated levels of chlorinated solvent compounds, such as tetrachloroethene (PCE) or trichloroethene (TCE), are often present in groundwater beneath sites where manufacturing and industrial operations have occurred. An innovative technology known as Enhanced In Situ Bioremediation (EISB) is being used to cost-effectively treat these contaminated sites. EISB, or engineered bioremediation, is the acceleration of microbial activities to enhance the degradation or detoxification of environmental pollutants in an anaerobic environment. The purpose of EISB is to increase the rate of microbial activity so the rate of reductive dechlorination is increased.   By David Renfrew & Jacqueline McMillen. This article originally appeared in Storm Water Solution's October print issue titled "Practice Makes Perfect"
Water quality managers may be implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) using both administrative and structural controls, yet the water quality compliance results still are over permitted limits. Managers may need answers as they report to upper management or regulatory agencies on why BMPs are not performing as expected. Facility and municipal compliance managers need to understand frequent assessment of BMPs is required to evaluate their applicability, effectiveness and maintenance requirements. |
|